History · Chicago

Chicago has 407 places on the National Register, 41 of them National Historic Landmarks

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #11 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

With 39% of its homes built before 1940 and 98 historic districts holding 26,613 contributing buildings. Below: 13 old photos and papers, maps from 1889 on, the census since 1840, and every listing on the Register.

1831first post office

407on the National Register

39%homes built before 1940

13old photos & papers

37famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Chicago’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Chicago began

When was Chicago founded?

1831

The Chicago post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1837. Ten smaller post offices, Calumet (1835), Monroe (1838) and Sherman (1840), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 4,470 in 18402020 census: 2,746,388195 years

How historic is Chicago?

A⁺

More historic than 98% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Chicago post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1837.The full story ↓

History grade

What drives Chicago’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chicago is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #11 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.

A⁺

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chicago’s overall grade.

Founding era1831, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA⁻Homes built before 194038.8% of homes (±0.4) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%A National Register407 listings, 26,613 historic buildings, 98.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A⁺

All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 98%

NewerOlder

Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)#11 of 768

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Chicago ranks #28 on History.

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 Chicago’s 98.2 sits above most of its state (93% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 26,613 historic buildings are more than any other U.S. town’s.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±0.4 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1837 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used. A citywide figure averages neighborhoods that differ a lot.

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 Chicago’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark407 places on the National Register, 41 of them National Historic Landmarks.A historic districtThe Pilsen Historic District takes in 4,405 historic buildings.Lost villages74 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Chicago, and 258 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18898 editions of the USGS map, 1889 to 1993. Watch Chicago change.

★ What stands out · On the National Register

407 listings protect 26,613 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 41 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed

407

National Historic Landmarks

Wrigley Field

historic buildings protected

26,613

each building in a district counts

first listed

1966

First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction, Site of

BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructuresObjects★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival27

Chicago School24

Art Deco23

Queen Anne22

Prairie School18

Italianate16

★ Landmark

Wrigley FieldStructure

★ Landmark

First Self-Sustaining Nuclear Reaction, Site ofSite

★ Landmark

Frederick C. Robie HousePrairie School

★ Landmark

Hull HouseItalianate · Built 1856

★ Landmark

Taft, Lorado, Midway StudiosBuilding

★ Landmark

Room 405, George Herbert Jones Laboratory, The University of ChicagoBuilding

★ Landmark

Pullman Historic DistrictDistrict

★ Landmark

Auditorium Building, Roosevelt UniversityBuilding

All 406 listings

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Chicago’s post office has been open since 1831. 74 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Chicago

1831–today

Calumet

1835–1839

Monroe

1838–1850

Sherman

1840–1853

Jefferson

1846–1894

The Grove

1848–1901

Calumet

1853–1857

Leyden Center

1853–1883

Hope

1854–1864

Lake

1854–1856

18301930today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Albany ParkAldine SquareAltgeld GardensArcade RowArcher HeightsArcher LimitsArmour PatchArmour SquareAshburnAuburn ParkAustinAvalon HighlandsAvalon ParkAvondaleBack of the YardsBecks ParkBelgravia TerraceBelmont CraginBelmont ParkBerkeley CottagesBeverlyBeverly HillsBirchwoodBohemian California

Gone or out of use

Academy of MusicschoolAcademy of Our LadyschoolAgriculture BuildingbuildingAlbum TheaterbuildingAll Saints Catholic ChurchchurchAnnunciation Catholic ChurchchurchAnshe Kenesseth Israel SynagoguechurchAnshe Sholom SynagoguechurchApollo HallbuildingAssumption SchoolschoolAvaloe TheaterbuildingAvon TheatrebuildingBarnes HousebuildingBeaubiens StorebuildingBells Commerical CollegeschoolBelpark TheatrebuildingBerean Baptist ChurchchurchBigelow Housebuilding

31family graveyards and cemeteries inside Chicago

All Saints Polish National CatholicB'Nai AbrahamBethelBohemian National Cemetery of ChicagoCouch MausoleumGetty TombGracelandHebrew BenevolentImmaculate Conception MonasteryIndianIrving ParkMontroseMount Isaiah IsraelMount OliveMount OlivetNorwood ParkOak WoodsResthavenRidge LawnRosehillRosehill MausoleumRosemont ParkSaint Boniface CatholicSaint Casimir CatholicSaint Henry CatholicSaint JohannesSaint LukeSaint Nicholas Ukrainian CatholicUnion RidgeWunders LutheranZion Gardens

See all 31

All Saints Polish National Catholic Cemetery · B'Nai Abraham Cemetery · Bethel Cemetery · Bohemian National Cemetery of Chicago · Couch Mausoleum · Getty Tomb · Graceland Cemetery · Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery · Immaculate Conception Monastery · Indian Cemetery · Irving Park Cemetery · Montrose Cemetery · Mount Isaiah Israel Cemetery · Mount Olive Cemetery · Mount Olivet Cemetery · Norwood Park Cemetery · Oak Woods Cemetery · Resthaven Cemetery · Ridge Lawn Cemetery · Rosehill Cemetery · Rosehill Mausoleum · Rosemont Park Cemetery · Saint Boniface Catholic Cemetery · Saint Casimir Catholic Cemetery · Saint Henry Catholic Cemetery · Saint Johannes Cemetery · Saint Luke Cemetery · Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery · Union Ridge Cemetery · Wunders Lutheran Cemetery · Zion Gardens Cemetery

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Chicago came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chicago.

Read it all →

In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi, an indigenous tribe who had succeeded the Miami, Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region.

The first known permanent settler in Chicago was a trader, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and he established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago".

In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville.

Chapters18th century: Potawatomi, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable 19th century: Growth, major engineering projects 20th century: More growth, pluralization, suburbs, Daleys 21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chicago, 1684 to 1951

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

17th century
1684In the archive1678 La Salle Petitions King Louis XIV
18th century
1713In the archive1713 Joutel Title Page Last Voyage of La Salle
19th century
1831Post officeThe Chicago post office opens
1835Post officeThe Calumet post office opens
1838Post officeThe Monroe post office opens
1839Post officeThe Calumet post office closes
1850Post officeThe Monroe post office closes
1851In the archiveView of Chicago as seen at the top of St. Mary's College
1856BuiltHull House is built
1872In the archiveChicago, as it was
1880In the archiveNina van Zandt
1887BuiltJohn J. Glessner House is built
1888BuiltRookery Building is built
1889On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1890In the archiveChicago Heights Land Association office
1895BuiltReliance Building is built
20th century
1901Born hereWalt Disney is born here
1951Born hereRobin Williams is born here

By decade

Chicago, decade by decade

6 decades in the archive, from the 1680s to the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1680s–1710s3 items

16841678 La Salle Petitions King Louis XIVDocument

1687 Henri Joutel gives etymology of Chicago as from the word for garlic, Chicagou

16871687 Henri Joutel gives etymology of Chicago as from …Document

17131713 Joutel Title Page Last Voyage of La SalleDocument

1850s5 items

View of Chicago as seen at the top of St. Mary's College

1851View of Chicago as seen at the top of St. Mary's Coll…

1857Chicago in 1820

1857Kinzie House

1857Robbins-byggnaden

1858David Leavitt Charles H Ray letterDocument

1870s–1890s5 items

1872Chicago, as it was

1880Nina van Zandt

1889Hinman Street station

1890Chicago Heights Land Association office

US 1892 Chicago IL houstton & Co. to Philadelphia PA Advertising Cover front

1890sUS 1892 Chicago IL houstton & Co. to Philadelphia PA …

1900s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

On the map

Chicago on the map, 1889 to 1993

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

1889Chicago 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 Chicago.

Every building

Chicago, building by building, 1894–1897

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.

Chicago fire insurance map, 1894, sheet 2

1894Sheet 2 of 139

Edition

Sheets

+138 more at the Library of Congress

BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewView of Chicago as seen at the top of St. Mary's College, 1851

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chicago’s page.

Retake this view · +15

People over time

Chicago, census by census

Between 4,470 and 3,620,962 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

Famous people

37 famous people were born in Chicago

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →

Walt DisneyAmerican animator, producer, director, screenwr… · b. 1901

Leo XIV267th Pope of the Catholic Church · b. 1955

Robin WilliamsAmerican actor and comedian · b. 1951

Michelle ObamaLawyer and former First Lady of the United Stat… · b. 1964

Bobby FischerAmerican chess player · b. 1943

Harrison FordAmerican actor · b. 1942

Help out

Finish Chicago’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewView of Chicago as seen at the top of S…: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Leyden Township1 historic placeB⁻Maine Township4 historic placesB RosemontIts storyD⁻Worth Township1 historic placeC⁺Schiller ParkIts storyD Niles Township7 historic placesB Stickney TownshipIts storyC⁻Calumet Township2 historic placesA Park Ridge2 historic placesB Elk Grove Township1 historic placeB⁻

Questions about Chicago’s history

What year was Chicago founded?

The Chicago post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1837.

How does Chicago rank for history?

Chicago is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #11 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 Chicago?

407 listings, 41 of them National Historic Landmarks: 295 buildings, 98 historic districts with 25,857 contributing buildings, 3 sites, 7 structures, and 1 object. 26,613 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Chicago?

39% of Chicago’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1953.

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 (13), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (406), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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Chicago has 407 places on the National Register, 41 of them National Historic Landmarks

How Chicago began

When was Chicago founded?

How historic is Chicago?

What drives Chicago’s History grade

What stands out about Chicago’s past

407 listings protect 26,613 historic buildings

Architectural styles listings

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

How Chicago came to be

Chicago, 1684 to 1951

Chicago, decade by decade

Chicago on the map, 1889 to 1993

Chicago, building by building, 1894–1897

Stand where they stood

Chicago, census by census

37 famous people were born in Chicago

Finish Chicago’s story

History across the town line

Questions about Chicago’s history

Memory lane

Where this page comes from