Most of Elwood was built recently: 10% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Its Register listing is the Alternate Route 66, Wilmington to Joliet. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Elwood’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Elwood is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Elwood’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 Elwood’s 5.0 sits above most of its state (75% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±6.0 points). Two sources give 1854.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Elwood’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Elwood was founded in 1854 and incorporated as a village in 1869. The completion of the Joliet–Bloomington railroad, now part of the Union Pacific system, played a major role in the founding of Elwood. By 1900, Elwood was a small farming community with a population of about 400.
In the late 1930s, the federal government acquired nearby land for military training and weapons production, on which site the Joliet Arsenal was built and commenced operation in 1940. Arsenal construction played an important role in the development of Elwood and brought about 175 people into the area. In 1942, a massive explosion at the arsenal killed 42 workers and caused widespread damage.
Passages that mention Elwood, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Souvenir of settlement and progress of Will County, Ill. A review of the lives of our presidents, political, military and commercial history of the United States and of the state of Illinois ... Business directory of Joliet ... Comp. specially for the peo1884 · page 358Read the page →
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J. J. Lichtenw alter, born in Stark county, Ohio, August 27, 1829, settled at Elwood in 1868, where he opened a grocery and drug store; in 1871 he was appointed agent for the Canton Iron Bridge Company, and dealt extensively throughout tlie Western States; subsequently he established his lumber trade at Elwood, and in 1877 established his grain warehouse.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Souvenir of settlement and progress of Will County, Ill. A review of the lives of our presidents, political, military and commercial history of the United States and of the state of Illinois ... Business directory of Joliet ... Comp. specially for the peo1884 · page 347Read the page →
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The post-office at Jackson creek was established in 1840, with James Gager post-master; and the first church building was erected in 1852, one mile west of Elwood, to which village it was moved in 1866. Henry Watkins, a settler of 1834, opened a school in the township in 1834 with fifteen pupils.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 542Read the page →
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others. They were also Carolinians, and had left there years before and had resided for a time in Indiana, near the Wabash. Of these, Henry Linebarger lived here but four years, dying here in 1836. George Linebarger is now a resident of the village of Elwood. He has been a very useful citizen, a leader in the Methodist Church, and one of its most pious members. He is now in poor health, and waits but for a short time to take up his residence in another and better country. John Linebarger, though he came to the township at the date named, returned to Indiana a few weeks later, and did not make
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Will County, Illinois1928 · page 810Read the page →
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Neil J. Blatt spent his entire life in Denmark. He was a cabinet maker by trade. To Mr. and Mrs. Blatt were born three sons : Nelson, who emigrated to the United States in 1866 and settled at Elwood, where he now lives retired ; Neil, was a resident of Elwood from 1870 until his death which occurred Dec. 16, 1923 ; and Daniel N., the subject of this sketch.
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
Elwood, 1843 to 2010
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Elwood’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1880 counted 312 people here.
How does Elwood rank for history?
Elwood is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns. 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 Elwood?
One place: the Alternate Route 66, Wilmington to Joliet (listed 2006).
How old are the homes in Elwood?
10% of Elwood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (2), 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 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.
2026
2006