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CHistory
History · Deerfield

Deerfield’s post office opened in 1850, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #538 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Deerfield was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1970. Its Register listing is the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1910.

1850first post office
1on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
11famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Deerfield began

When was Deerfield founded?

1850

The Deerfield post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1903.

First census: 476 in 19102020 census: 19,196176 years

How historic is Deerfield?

C

More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Deerfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1903.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Deerfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Deerfield is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #538 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 Deerfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19403.2% of homes (±1.1) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 0.5 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 32%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 30%

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 Deerfield’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% 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 (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1903.

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 Deerfield’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 Deerfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19008 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 2000. Watch Deerfield change.Famous sons and daughtersColt Cabana, Homer H. Dubs and 9 more were born here.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Deerfield’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Deerfield’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

Deerfield on the map, 1900 to 2000

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

Deerfield on the 1900 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1928 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1951 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1963 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1972 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1980 USGS mapDeerfield on the 1993 USGS mapDeerfield on the 2000 USGS map1900Highwood 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 Deerfield.

Famous people

11 famous people were born in Deerfield

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

See all →
Colt CabanaAmerican professional wrestler, stand-up comedi… · b. 1980
H
Homer H. DubsAmerican sinologist · b. 1892
Todd ReirdenAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1971
Alexander 23American singer-songwriter and record producer · b. 1995
J
Joey CalistriAmerican soccer player · b. 1993
Charlie JonesAmerican football player · b. 1998
The story

How Deerfield came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Deerfield.

Read it all →

Originally populated by the Bodéwadmiakiwen (Potawatomi), Myaamia (Miami), Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo), and Peoria Native Americans, the area was settled by Horace Lamb and Jacob B. Cadwell in 1835 and named Cadwell's Corner. A shopping center located on the site of Cadwell's farm at Waukegan Road and Lake Cook Road still bears that name. The area grew because of the navigable rivers in the area, notably the Des Plaines River and the Chicago River.

ChaptersBeginnings20th century21st centuryDeerfield Historic Village

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Deerfield in 1877

Passages that mention Deerfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Highwood is a village in the township of Deerfield, on the railroad, adjoin¬ ing the town plat of Highland Park on the north, but the depot or station house at this place is about a mile from that at Highland Park. The town plat of this place was laid out in April, 1871. It is about three miles sou…
The past and present of Lake County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a biographical directory ... war record ... early settlers ... statistics ... history of Illinois ... the Northwest ... etc., etc ..1877 · page 266Read the page →
Read the text

Highwood is a village in the township of Deerfield, on the railroad, adjoin¬ ing the town plat of Highland Park on the north, but the depot or station house at this place is about a mile from that at Highland Park. The town plat of this place was laid out in April, 1871. It is about three miles south of Lake Forest. It is connected with Highland Park by broad avenues, on some of which the buildings are scattered along, so that the dividing point between the two places is not discernible. The streets and avenues were first laid out by Rev. Dr. Evarts. Directly east of the railroad depot he secured a handsome

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Forest and Waukegan. Several other lines • of railroad have since been projected through the county, but none have suc¬ ceeded except a branch of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, passing through the town of Deerfield, and up the Aux Plaines River to the State line; e…
The past and present of Lake County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a biographical directory ... war record ... early settlers ... statistics ... history of Illinois ... the Northwest ... etc., etc ..1877 · page 237Read the page →
Read the text

Highland Park, Highwood, Lake Forest and Waukegan. Several other lines • of railroad have since been projected through the county, but none have suc¬ ceeded except a branch of the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, passing through the town of Deerfield, and up the Aux Plaines River to the State line; except also a branch of the Chicago & Northwestern, called the Wisconsin Branch, which passes through the town of Cuba diagonally, in the southwestern coinei of the county. This latter line of road, at the commencement of its construction, was called the Illinois & Wisconsin Railroad. The name was

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.

Timeline

Deerfield, 1850 to 1995

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Deerfield post office opens
  3. 1872BuiltChicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot is built
  4. 1892Born hereHomer H. Dubs is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1971Born hereTodd Reirden is born here
  8. 1980Born hereColt Cabana is born here
  9. 1995Born hereAlexander 23 is born here
By decade

Deerfield, decade by decade

Today23 recent
Homecoming 006 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Homecoming 006 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHomecoming 002 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Homecoming 002 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 052 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 052 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 043 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 043 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 041 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 041 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 040 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 040 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 039 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 039 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 037 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 037 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 022 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 022 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 018 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 018 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 016 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 016 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 015 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 015 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 008 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 008 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 006 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 006 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerHalloween 001 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004Halloween 001 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 067 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 067 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 063 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 063 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 056 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 056 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 037 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 037 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 030 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 030 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 015 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 015 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerFallPlay 008 - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004FallPlay 008 - Flickr - GregTheBuskerCoasterEdit - Flickr - GregTheBusker2004CoasterEdit - Flickr - GregTheBusker
Every building

Deerfield, building by building, 1929

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 sheet.

Deerfield fire insurance map, 1929, sheet 11929Sheet 1 of 5
BrickWoodStone

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

On the National Register

1 historic place in Deerfield

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passeng…
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot, built 1872
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger DepotLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1872

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

People over time

Deerfield, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00019201940196019802000202019,196

Grew from 476 people in 1910 to 19,196 in 2020, more than tenfold.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Deerfield’s post office has been open since 1850.

Gone or out of use
Briergate Golf Clublocale
1cemetery inside Deerfield
Deerfield

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Highland Park35 historic placesA−NorthbrookIts storyDRiverwoodsIts storyDBannockburnIts storyC−

Questions about Deerfield’s history

What year was Deerfield founded?

The Deerfield post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1903.

How does Deerfield rank for history?

Deerfield is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #538 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 Deerfield?

One place: the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Passenger Depot (listed 1998).

How old are the homes in Deerfield?

3% of Deerfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.

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 (23), Wikidata (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), 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.