Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives DeKalb’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, DeKalb is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #177 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of DeKalb’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 DeKalb’s 2.5 sits above most of its state (68% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1837.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±2.5 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 DeKalb’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
DeKalb was originally called Huntley's Grove, and under the latter name was platted in 1853. The name is for Baron Johann de Kalb, a major general in the American Revolutionary War. The first church in DeKalb was organized in 1844. Beginning in 1846, a stage coach traveled from Chicago through DeKalb and Dixon to Galena. A post office has been in operation at DeKalb since 1849. The first railroad reached DeKalb in 1853.
Passages that mention DeKalb, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of DeKalb County, Illinois1868 · page 351Read the page →
Read the text
Hundreds of such wagons passed into DeKalb county in the early months of this year, and many went beyond its boundaries, to the Rock River country, which was first settled during this year. Among the occupants of one of these was Ambrose Spencer, Esq., who, after thirty years of eventful life in various sections of the country, has now returned to take up his residence on the identical spot in the thriving village of DeKalb, where thirty-three years
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of DeKalb County, Illinois1868 · page 388Read the page →
Read the text
I, John R. Hamlin, Clerk of the County Commissioners' Court of said County, and Frederic Love Probate Justice of the Peace, and Harvey Maxfield, Justice of the Peace in and for said County of DeKalb, do hereby certify that at an election held in the several precincts of said County, on the Third Monday in August, A. D. 1840, in pursuance of an act entitled an act permanently to locate the seat of Justice of the County of DeKalb approved January
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
DeKalb, 1837 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
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.
In 1837, according to Wikidata. DeKalb’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1880 counted 1,598 people here.
How does DeKalb rank for history?
DeKalb is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #177 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 DeKalb?
6 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Joseph F. Glidden House (listed 1973, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in DeKalb?
14% of DeKalb’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.5 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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (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 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.
c. 1887
2004
2004
