Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #628 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Dolton was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1965. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1880.
The Dolton post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Dolton's Station (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dolton is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #628 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Dolton’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dolton’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dolton. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Dolton.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dolton.
A post office has been in operation in Dolton since 1854. The village was named for a family of early settlers. The villages of Dolton and nearby Riverdale were effectively one community until each incorporated separately in 1892.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Dolton, cut from the printed page as they were published.
placed, which was maintained until about 1S42, when the first bridge was built by George Dolton and Levi Osterhoudt, and was known as the Dolton bridee. It was maintained as a toll-bridge until 1.S56, when it was purchased by the county and made a free bridge.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born herePerry Johnson is born here
In the archiveChicago and Eastern Illinois GP7 206 in Dolton, IL on March 31, 1964
Born hereDerek Needham is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2021I-94 east at Dolton Ave - Calumet City-Dolton, IL - D…
2013I-94 Eastbound at Sibley Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois
2012Dolton, Illinois
2012Dolton, Illinois (7238212186) (2)
2010IHB GP38-2
2010CSX Intermodal at Lincoln Avenue in
2010Untitled photo
2010Amtrak Cardinal in Dolton, May 2010
2009Dolton IL 2009 reference mapMap
2007Slug & Switcher IHBNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Dolton’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 448 and 25,937 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dolton’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Dolton’s post office has been open since 1854. Another post office, Dolton's Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Dolton post office opened in 1854, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Dolton is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #628 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.
4% of Dolton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1965.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (14), 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.
1969
1969
Date?