Elk Grove Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #390 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Elk Grove Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. Its Register listing is . Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1960.
Founding year: the first Elk Grove Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1956.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elk Grove Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elk Grove Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #390 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elk Grove Township’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 Elk Grove Township’s 0.1 sits near the middle of its state (57% 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 B+. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1956.
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 Elk Grove Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Elk Grove Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Highwood 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 Elk Grove Township.
Timeline
Elk Grove Township, 1900 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The land that is now the Village of Elk Grove was controlled by the Miami Confederacy (which contained the Illini and Kickapoo tribes) starting in the early 1680s. The Confederacy was driven from the area by the Iroquois and Meskwaki in the early 1700s.
The French-allied Potawatomi began to raid and take possession of Northern Illinois in the 1700s. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Potawatomi expanded southwards from their territory in Green Bay and westward from their holdings near Detroit, until they controlled in an L-shaped swath of territory from Green Bay to the Illinois River, and from the Mississippi River to the Maumee River.
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.
The Elk Grove Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1956.
How does Elk Grove Township rank for history?
Elk Grove Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #390 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.
How old are the homes in Elk Grove Township?
3% of Elk Grove Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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