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Platform at Ashland Calumet Park, looking northeast (52951443276)Photo: Jacob G. from Chicago, Illinois, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
C−History
History · Calumet Park

Calumet Park was first counted by the census in 1920

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #674 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Calumet Park was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1960. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1920.

1920first census
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Jacob G. from Chicago, Illinois, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Calumet Park began

When was Calumet Park founded?

1920

Calumet Park first appears in the census in 1920.

First census: 1,237 in 19202020 census: 7,025106 years

How historic is Calumet Park?

C−

More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first census.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Calumet Park’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Calumet Park is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #674 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Calumet Park’s overall grade.
Founding era1920, from the first census: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19408.5% of homes (±4.3) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 16%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 12%

Few Illinois towns list much on the Register (a typical Illinois town has 0.5 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Calumet Park’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.3 points).

Founding year: the first census (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Calumet Park’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Calumet Park are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18927 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1993. Watch Calumet Park change.Boom and bustPeaked at 10,069 in 1970; 7,025 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Calumet Park’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Calumet Park’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Calumet Park’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Calumet Park on the map, 1892 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Calumet Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Calumet Park on the 1892 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1900 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1929 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1953 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1963 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1973 USGS mapCalumet Park on the 1993 USGS map1892Calumet sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Calumet Park.

People over time

Calumet Park, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 10,069

Peaked at 10,069 in 1970; 7,025 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Calumet Park’s Wikipedia page.

The story

How Calumet Park came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Calumet Park.

Read it all →

On May 13, 2010, Mayor Joseph DuPar and the village board approved renaming 127th Street as Obama Drive, in honor of President Barack Obama. On August 21, 2010, State Senator Emil Jones III read a proclamation of the Illinois Senate in honor of the dedication on the same date. This road became the first Obama Drive in the country and the first road named after Obama in Illinois.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Calumet Park, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Platform at Burr Oak, looking southwest2023Platform at Burr Oak, looking southwestObama Drive2010Obama DriveBurr Oak Metra Station2010Burr Oak Metra StationCalumet Park 2009 reference map2009Calumet Park 2009 reference mapMap
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Blue Island1 historic placeA−Calumet Township2 historic placesAChicago407 historic placesA+

Questions about Calumet Park’s history

What year was Calumet Park founded?

The Calumet Park post office opened in 1920, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Calumet Park rank for history?

Calumet Park is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #674 of 768 in Illinois. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

How old are the homes in Calumet Park?

9% of Calumet Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1960.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.