Most of Carbon Cliff was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Carbon Cliff post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carbon Cliff’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carbon Cliff is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carbon Cliff’s overall grade.
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 Carbon Cliff’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 C− to C. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1906.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Carbon Cliff’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The Chicago and Rock Island railroad (later the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific) reached Carbon Cliff in 1854. By the mid-19th century, Carbon Cliff had become a coal mining center, and was named for the many coal mines that dotted the bluff west of town. The Carbon Cliff mines were the earliest worked on the west side of the Rock River. Stoehr & Schadt Coal Co and others mined extensively for many years, but by the beginning of the 20th century the limited supply of coal was nearly exhausted and mining there was discontinued.
The Carbon Cliff post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.
How does Carbon Cliff rank for history?
Carbon Cliff is more historic than 23% of U.S. towns. 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 Carbon Cliff?
6% of Carbon Cliff’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
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