Carpentersville’s post office opened in 1863, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 34% of U.S. towns · #514 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Carpentersville was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Library Hall. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1925 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Carpentersville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Carpentersville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Carpentersville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #514 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Carpentersville’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 Carpentersville’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Carpentersville’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Carpentersville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1925Elgin 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 Carpentersville.
Julius Angelo Carpenter (August 19, 1827 – March 30, 1880) was the founder of Carpentersville, Illinois and its first prominent citizen. Carpenter came with his family from Uxbridge, Massachusetts and settled near the Fox River, along with his father Charles Valentine Carpenter and his uncle Daniel. Angelo was the first person to settle Carpentersville. Carpenter built the settlement's first store, bridge, and factory. He served two consecutive terms in the Illinois House of Representatives. In 1837, the brothers, en route to the Rock River, made camp along the east bank of the Fox River to wait out the spring floods that made continuing their oxcart journey impossible. They ended up staying in the area to settle what was then called Carpenters' Grove.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Carpentersville post office opened in 1863, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Carpentersville rank for history?
Carpentersville is more historic than 34% of U.S. towns, #514 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.
What is on the National Register in Carpentersville?
One place: the Library Hall (listed 1973).
How old are the homes in Carpentersville?
5% of Carpentersville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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2024
2024
2013
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