More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #672 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Gages Lake was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1970.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Gages Lake is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #672 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Gages Lake’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 Gages Lake’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±2.1 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Gages Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The body of water known as Gages Lake was estimated to have formed nearly 10,000 years ago during the most recent ice age.
In 1838 a schoolhouse was built in the area that would in time become Warren Township High School in 1917. In the 1840s a man known as John Gage and his brother George Gage began sellings parcels of land surrounding the lake which he called the North Grange Resort. Sometime prior to the developments in the 1920s, Richard Warren Sears (no relation to the name of the township) had purchased and owned the lake/surrounding land.
The census-designated place has received fire and police service from the neighboring village of Grayslake since the 1960s.
Gages Lake is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #672 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 Gages Lake?
4% of Gages Lake’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1984.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
