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C+History
History · Frankfort Township

Frankfort Township dates to 1879, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns · #481 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Frankfort Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 1880.

1879founded
1on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Frankfort Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Frankfort Township began

When was Frankfort Township founded?

1879

Frankfort Township dates its founding to 1879 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 332 in 18802020 census: 59,796147 years

How historic is Frankfort Township?

C+

More historic than 38% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1838.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Frankfort Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frankfort Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #481 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Frankfort Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1879, from Wikidata: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.4% of homes (±0.9) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register1 listing, 9 historic buildings, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 38%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 37%

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 Frankfort Township’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1879.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Frankfort Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 18908 editions of the USGS map, 1890 to 1993. Watch Frankfort Township change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Frankfort Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00018801900192019401960198020002020431 in 1890Low: 250

Lost a third of its people between 1890 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Frankfort Township’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Frankfort Township on the map, 1890 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Frankfort Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Frankfort Township on the 1890 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1900 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1929 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1953 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1963 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1973 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1980 USGS mapFrankfort Township on the 1993 USGS map1890Des Plaines 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 Frankfort Township.

The story

How Frankfort Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Frankfort Township.

Read it all →

First inhabited by Native Americans, including the Potawatomi and Sac and Fox tribes, Frankfort was used as a conduit between the Des Plaines and St. Joseph rivers. The area was part of the Virginia Territory until the French signed a treaty with Manitoqua, the Potawatomi chief, for land in the Prestwick area. The first pioneers came to Frankfort in the early 1830s by means of the Des Plaines River from the southwest and by wagon from the east along the Sauk Trail, a roadway that still exists.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Frankfort Township in 1878

Passages that mention Frankfort Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Forty-eight years have come and gone since white men began to settle in the territory now embraced in Frankfort Township. William Rice is supposed to have been the first white man whose footsteps marked the virgin prairie in this portion of Will County. He made a kind of prospecting tour through he…
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 506Read the page →
Read the text

Forty-eight years have come and gone since white men began to settle in the territory now embraced in Frankfort Township. William Rice is supposed to have been the first white man whose footsteps marked the virgin prairie in this portion of Will County. He made a kind of prospecting tour through here in 1828, but did not make a permanent settlement until in the Summer of 1831. During the Spring and Summer of that year, John McGovney, William Moore, William Rice and a man named Osborne settled near where the village of Mokena now stands. Not long, however, were they allowed to

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

Frankfort Township, 1879 to 2020

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1879
    FoundingFrankfort Township is established
  3. 1890On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1933In the archiveENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 45
  6. 1955In the archiveEvergreen Motel (NBY 428724)
  7. 21st century
  8. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 20,296
By decade

Frankfort Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s7 items
ENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933ENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner…SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 45VIEW FROM NORTH, CENTRAL AREA, UPPER LEVEL - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933VIEW FROM NORTH, CENTRAL AREA, UPPER LEVEL - Baumgart…VIEW FROM NORTHWEST ACROSS U. S. ROUTE 45 - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933VIEW FROM NORTHWEST ACROSS U. S. ROUTE 45 - Baumgartn…VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST ENTRANCE, LOWER LEVEL - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933VIEW FROM SOUTHEAST ENTRANCE, LOWER LEVEL - Baumgartn…VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 451933VIEW FROM SOUTHWEST - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Rout…WINDOW MISSING SILL AND ADJACENT BRICKS, SOUTHERN PORTION OF EAST WALL, LOWER LEVEL - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route …1933WINDOW MISSING SILL AND ADJACENT BRICKS, SOUTHERN POR…
1950s1 item
Evergreen Motel (NBY 428724)1955Evergreen Motel (NBY 428724)
1960s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today16 recent
Old Plank Road Trail gate - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Old Plank Road Trail gate - Frankfort, IL - September…Old Plank Road Trail eastern gate - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Old Plank Road Trail eastern gate - Frankfort, IL - S…Old Plank Road Trail east at US 45 - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Old Plank Road Trail east at US 45 - Frankfort, IL - …Harlem Ave north at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Harlem Ave north at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort,…Frankfort Station house - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Frankfort Station house - Frankfort, IL - September 2…Finish marker for 5K run at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort, IL - September 20242024Finish marker for 5K run at Old Plank Road Trail - Fr…3-mile marker for 5K run at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort, IL - September 202420243-mile marker for 5K run at Old Plank Road Trail - Fr…US 45 north at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort, IL - June 20232023US 45 north at Old Plank Road Trail - Frankfort, IL -…Old Plank Road Trail above LaGrange Road2023Old Plank Road Trail above LaGrange RoadLincolnWayEastHighSchool2023LincolnWayEastHighSchoolAsh St and Kansas St - Frankfort, IL - June 20232023Ash St and Kansas St - Frankfort, IL - June 2023Church Tower of Frankfort, Ill2014Church Tower of Frankfort, IllPhillips Chevrolet’s Solar Charging Station for Electric Vehicles2012Phillips Chevrolet’s Solar Charging Station for Elect…Phillips Chevrolet's Solar Charging Station for Electric Vehicles2012Phillips Chevrolet's Solar Charging Station for Elect…Hallopora multitabulata fossil bryozoan (Ordovician;2010Hallopora multitabulata fossil bryozoan (Ordovician;Streetsign theft warning2005Streetsign theft warning
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

ENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 45
Retake this viewENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE - Baumgartner Creamery, U.S. Route 45, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Frankfort Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 9 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
9
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Arbury HillsFrankfort SquareLincoln Estates
Gone or out of use
Gatter SchoolschoolSummit Stationlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Frankfort Township
HickorySaint John's

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Frankfort Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewENTRANCE AND WINDOW DETAILS, SOUTH SIDE…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Orland Township2 historic placesCRich Township2 historic placesC+New Lenox TownshipIts storyC−FrankfortIts storyC−Orland Park2 historic placesB−MattesonIts storyC−Green Garden TownshipIts storyCFrankfort SquareIts storyD−

Questions about Frankfort Township’s history

What year was Frankfort Township founded?

In 1879, according to Wikidata. Frankfort Township’s post office opened in 1838, and the census of 1880 counted 332 people here.

How does Frankfort Township rank for history?

Frankfort Township is more historic than 38% of U.S. towns, #481 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 Frankfort Township?

2% of Frankfort Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (24), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.