Founding year: the first Cerro Gordo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Cerro Gordo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Cerro Gordo is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Cerro Gordo’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 Cerro Gordo’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 B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). 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 Cerro Gordo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
When the Mexican–American War began General John S. Williams took command. At the battle of Cerro Gordo (Mexico) he led the troops in a victory over Mexican troops. He took the nickname of "Cerro Gordo" Williams. After the battle, he returned to Illinois and settled in Bement. About the same time (1855) the people of the town of Griswold chose to move the town from the stagecoach line along the river to the path of the Great Western Railroad. The town was platted by Sheridan Wait and Henry Durfee. "Cerro Gordo" Williams was one of the citizens, and as the town had other citizens who fought in the battle of Cerro Gordo, they selected the name Cerro Gordo. When the Civil War erupted, "Cerro Gordo" Williams returned to Kentucky and became a general in the Army of the Confederacy. On May 31, 1864, his residence was destroyed by fire, with arson being suspected. After the Civil War, with "Ce…
Cerro Gordo in 1858 contained only about two business houses and probably only a dozen residences. For quite awhile after the war Cerro Gordo was at a standstill, but within the last few years it has taken a new start and is now improving quite fast. There are about twenty-five business firms in the place now, and it is anticipated that the town will make steady improvement from this on. It now has about 700 inhabitants. It is well supplied with trees and contains a neat little park. Nowhere in the county were we met more cordially
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Dr. Mitchell, now living in Bement, moved on to Lake Fork in 1853, and was the first physician at Mackville. Dr. Prosser was located at Cerro Gordo previous to 1860, and was piobably the first physician of the place. Dr. Taylor was in Bement previous to 1860. Dr. J. H. Leal also located in Bement a few years previous to the war.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The Cerro Gordo post office opened in 1847, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Cerro Gordo rank for history?
Cerro Gordo is more historic than 70% 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 Cerro Gordo?
29% of Cerro Gordo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (6), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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