Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns · #323 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1860.
The Eureka post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1855.
More historic than 61% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eureka is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #323 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls 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 Eureka’s 22.0 sits above most of its state (87% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 11 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 Eureka’s history is told.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1885Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
From Wikipedia’s history of Eureka.
Eureka was originally laid out as Walnut Grove in 1855. The name was changed to Eureka because of a naming conflict with another Walnut Grove. Sources differ on who proposed the name Eureka. The city is named from the Greek expression Eureka, meaning "I have found it".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Eureka, cut from the printed page as they were published.
mation to be obtained, we are disposed to give the credit to Hoshor. The first high school was taught by A. S. Fisher, and commenced in 1850, with Miss Susan Jones as Assistant. After passing through many changes and grades of promotion, it finally, in 1855, became Eureka College, a full history of which is given in connection with Olio Township and the village of Eureka. The first school taught in Northern Illinois, paid for out of the public fund, is said to have been taught by Miss Love K. Morse, in the Winter of 1836-37, a daughter of Parker Morse, one of the early settlers in this
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In 1855 the town of Eureka was platted on its present site, the plat being drawn for John Darst, the owner of the land on which the new town was located. It was filed for record December 29th, 1855, and the early part of the year following, the first town lots were sold. The business part of the community was at once moved to the vicinity of the new railroad.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
May ;ird, 1869, Eureka and Metamora contested for the honor, but Eureka failed to develop its expected strength, the vote standing as follows : For removal to Eureka, 904, against removal to Eureka, 2,255. Eureka and ElPaso, at T»4 00 < O
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
events, whether for good or ill," thei'e is a woman in the case. In this, however, the principal participants were women, with a man figuring in it rather conspicuously, and he a preacher. The tragedy occurred in the village of Eureka, in 1878, and the alleged murderess, Mrs. Workman, wife of Rev. Mr. Workman, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. From newspaper publications (if that period, and other information gathered in regard to the affair, it seemsthat the reverend gentleman had conceived a passion for the murdered woman (who was a member of his flock), which, if she did not reciprocate, she did not,
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.
Born hereLevi Branson "Lee" Reeder is born here
In the archiveMinonk is His Home
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereBen Zobrist is born hereOne decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Eureka. 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 Eureka.
No 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 Eureka’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 604 and 5,295 people in every census since 1860.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eureka’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Eureka’s post office has been open since 1852.
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 Eureka post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1855.
Eureka is more historic than 61% of U.S. towns, #323 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.
Two places: the Eureka College Administration and Chapel (listed 1980) and the Eureka College Campus Historic District (2010).
11% of Eureka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1909
2024
2015
