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A−History
History · Des Plaines

Des Plaines’ post office opened in 1837, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns · #165 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Des Plaines was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1966. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 121 buildings. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.

1837first post office
2on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Des Plaines’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Des Plaines began

When was Des Plaines founded?

1837

The Des Plaines post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1852. Two smaller post offices, Maine (1850) and Riverview (1893), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 818 in 18802020 census: 60,675189 years

How historic is Des Plaines?

A−

More historic than 81% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Des Plaines post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1852.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Des Plaines’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Des Plaines is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #165 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Des Plaines’ overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19408.9% of homes (±1.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register2 listings, 122 historic buildings, 20.6 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 81%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 79%

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 Des Plaines’ 20.6 sits above most of its state (87% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 122 historic buildings outnumber those of 90% 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 (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1852.

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 Des Plaines’ past

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

A historic districtThe Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground takes in 121 historic buildings.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1993. Watch Des Plaines change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Des Plaines, and 2 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Des Plaines.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

2 listings protect 122 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
122
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground
Des Plaines Methodist Camp GroundFirst Congregational Church, Des Plaines
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Camp Meeting Cottages1
Des Plaines Methodist Camp GroundLate Victorian
First Congregational Church, Des PlainesBuilding

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

On the map

Des Plaines on the map, 1900 to 1993

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

Des Plaines on the 1900 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1927 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1953 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1963 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1972 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1980 USGS mapDes Plaines on the 1993 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 Des Plaines.

Places that used to be

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

Des Plaines had its own post office from 1837 to 1850. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Des Plaines
1837–1850
Maine
1850–1869
Des Plaines
1869–today
Riverview
1893–1913
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
NormaRiverview
Gone or out of use
Forest HospitalhospitalMaple Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Des Plaines
All Saints Catholic Cemetery and MausoleumSaint Marys

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

The story

How Des Plaines came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Des Plaines.

Read it all →

Potawatomi, Ottawa, and Ojibwe (Chippewa) Native American tribes inhabited the Des Plaines River Valley prior to Europeans' arrival. When French explorers and missionaries arrived in the 1600s in what was then the Illinois Country of New France, they named the waterway La Rivière des Plaines (English translation: "Plains River") as they felt that trees on the river resembled European plane trees. The first white settlers came from the eastern United States in 1833, after the signing of the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, followed by many German immigrants during the 1840s and '50s. In the 1850s, the land in this area was purchased by the Illinois and Wisconsin Land Company along a railroad line planned between Chicago and Janesville, Wisconsin. In 1852, the developers built a steam-powered mill next to the river to cut local trees into railroad ties. Socrates Rand then bought the mill and conve…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Des Plaines in 1909

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

Rev. J. H. Laird was the first pastor. The Methodist church of Des Plaines was organized about the year 1870 by Rev. Schwartz and at first had a membership of about twenty. The village of Park Ridge was started about the year 1840 by two men named Warner and Stevens, who erected a small frame house…
History of Cook County, Illinois1909 · page 271Read the page →
Read the text

Rev. J. H. Laird was the first pastor. The Methodist church of Des Plaines was organized about the year 1870 by Rev. Schwartz and at first had a membership of about twenty. The village of Park Ridge was started about the year 1840 by two men named Warner and Stevens, who erected a small frame house on the present site of the village. Of course there was no village at that date, and the land had just been surveyed. The settlement of this locality was slow. In 1854 Benjamin Meacham built a brick

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The village of Maywood, distant about ten and a quarter miles from Chicago, is on the west bank of the Des Plaines river. In 1868 W. I. Reynolds bought a tract there and organized a stock company and proceeded to lay out a village. Associated with him in the company were W. T. Nichols, J. P. Willar…
History of Cook County, Illinois1909 · page 299Read the page →
Read the text

The village of Maywood, distant about ten and a quarter miles from Chicago, is on the west bank of the Des Plaines river. In 1868 W. I. Reynolds bought a tract there and organized a stock company and proceeded to lay out a village. Associated with him in the company were W. T. Nichols, J. P. Willard, P. S. Peake, A. S. Eaton, H. O. Gifford and A. M. Moore. In 1869 this concern organized as the Maywood company, which began an elaborate system of improvement. Streets were laid out, buildings commenced, ditches dug,

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

Des Plaines, 1837 to 2001

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Des Plaines post office opens
  3. 1850Post officeThe Des Plaines post office closes
  4. 1850Post officeThe Maine post office opens
  5. 1869Post officeThe Maine post office closes
  6. 1869Post officeThe Des Plaines post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1921In the archiveAdministration bldg., St. Mary's Training School
  10. 1956In the archiveMexican Import Co., from the holy land, along the banks of River Jordan, comes this charm…
  11. 1962In the archiveC&NW Passenger Trains - 6 of Roger Puta Photos
  12. 1962Born hereKelly Coffield Park is born here
  13. 1972Born hereShawn Green is born here
  14. 1980In the archiveMcDonald's store #1 located west of Chicago, Illinois
  15. 1993In the archiveDes Plaines interlocking tower
  16. 1998Born hereFin Argus is born here
  17. 21st century
  18. 2001Born hereAngela Dugalić is born here
By decade

Des Plaines, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1960s7 items
Administration bldg., St. Mary's Training School1921Administration bldg., St. Mary's Training SchoolMexican Import Co., from the holy land, along the banks of River Jordan, comes this charming pouch... (NBY 3782)1956Mexican Import Co., from the holy land, along the ban…C&NW Passenger Trains - 6 of Roger Puta Photos1962C&NW Passenger Trains - 6 of Roger Puta PhotosAudio Oct 19631963Audio Oct 196319670603 01 Chicago Transit Authority UMC Des Plaines, IL-2196719670603 01 Chicago Transit Authority UMC Des Plaines…O'Hare American Inn advertisement in The Chicago Tribune (July 23,1967)1967O'Hare American Inn advertisement in The Chicago Trib…O'Hare Concord Motor Inn Des Plaines, Illinis1967O'Hare Concord Motor Inn Des Plaines, Illinis
1980s–1990s3 items
McDonald's store #1 located west of Chicago, Illinois1980McDonald's store #1 located west of Chicago, IllinoisDes Plaines interlocking tower1993Des Plaines interlocking towerInterlocking machine locking bed1994Interlocking machine locking bed
Today20 recent
WYLL daytime transmitter site 22020WYLL daytime transmitter site 2WYLL daytime transmitter site2019WYLL daytime transmitter siteNICBbuilding2018NICBbuildingFeldco2018FeldcoMayorMatthewBogusz2013MayorMatthewBoguszGreat Blue Heron-Juvenile photo session2013Great Blue Heron-Juvenile photo sessionDes Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (4)2013Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (4)Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (2)2013Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (2)Smooth shot2012Smooth shotJose Sanchez Burning Eve2012Jose Sanchez Burning EveDes Plaines, IL, USA2012Des Plaines, IL, USADes Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (3)2012Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (3)Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (1)2012Des Plaines, IL, USA - panoramio (1)Greetings from Des Plaines, Illinois - Large Letter Postcard2012Greetings from Des Plaines, Illinois - Large Letter P…DocumentFEMA - 44994 - FEMA Public Assistance specialist in Illinois2010FEMA - 44994 - FEMA Public Assistance specialist in I…FEMA - 44959 - FEMA hat and equipment2010FEMA - 44959 - FEMA hat and equipmentWelcome to the City of Des Plaines Sign2009Welcome to the City of Des Plaines SignDes Plaines IL 2009 reference map2009Des Plaines IL 2009 reference mapMapDes Plaines, IL2008Des Plaines, ILUS-IL-Chicagoland-Des Plaines2005US-IL-Chicagoland-Des Plaines
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.

Administration bldg., St. Mary's Training School
Retake this viewAdministration bldg., St. Mary's Training School, 1921

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Des Plaines, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,0001880190019201940196019802000202060,675

Grew from 818 people in 1880 to 60,675 in 2020, more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Famous people

10 famous people were born in Des Plaines

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

See all →
F
Fin ArgusAmerican actor and musician · b. 1998
A
Angela DugalićAmerican–Serbian basketball player · b. 2001
Shawn GreenAmerican baseball player · b. 1972
K
Kelly Coffield ParkAmerican actress and comedian · b. 1962
R
Rick ZomboAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1963
Adrian FulleAmerican film director · b. 1972
Help out

Finish Des Plaines’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
5 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewAdministration bldg., St. Mary's Traini…: stand where they stood+15Share 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.

Mount ProspectIts storyC−Maine Township4 historic placesBChicago407 historic placesA+RosemontIts storyD−Elk Grove Township1 historic placeB−Park Ridge2 historic placesBGlenview2 historic placesC+Northfield Township2 historic placesC+Leyden Township1 historic placeB−Elk Grove VillageIts storyD

Questions about Des Plaines’ history

What year was Des Plaines founded?

The Des Plaines post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1852.

How does Des Plaines rank for history?

Des Plaines is more historic than 81% of U.S. towns, #165 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 Des Plaines?

Two places: the Des Plaines Methodist Camp Ground (listed 2005) and the First Congregational Church, Des Plaines (2019).

How old are the homes in Des Plaines?

9% of Des Plaines’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1966.

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 (28), the Library of Congress (2), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.