The Fox Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Fox Station (1875), Fox (1883) and Helmar (1894), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,681143 years
How historic is Fox Township?
C
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Fox Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Fox Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fox Township is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fox 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 Fox Township’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Fox Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Fox Station
1875–1883
Fox
1883–1931
Helmar
1894–1912
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
FoxHelmarKnob HillMillhurst
Gone or out of use
Anderson SchoolschoolGreenfield SchoolschoolHollenback SchoolschoolUpdike Landing StripairportWiley Updike Airportairport
1cemetery inside Fox Township
Darnell
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Fox Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fox Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Fox is an unincorporated community in Kendall County, in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located between the Village of Millbrook and the City of Yorkville. The community was originally named Fox Station due to its relationship with the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad. It served the local farming community by providing a school, grain elevator, feed mill, store and post office.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,675 in 2010, 1,681 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Fox Township, 1875 to 1948
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Fox Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Fox Township rank for history?
Fox Township is more historic than 33% 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.
How old are the homes in Fox Township?
13% of Fox Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) 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.
