Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #487 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Hampshire was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2004. Below: maps from 1893 on and the census since 1880.
The Hampshire post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hampshire is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #487 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Hampshire’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.
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 Hampshire’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hampshire yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hampshire is a village in Kane and McHenry counties, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 7,667.
Its first post office opened in 1841. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,563 to 7,667 (+38%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Hampshire, cut from the printed page as they were published.
two livery stables, four saloons, three billiard halls, two shoe shops, one harness shop, one millinery store, three doctors, one lawyer, one preacher, etc. The buildings are all new, and of a better class than the majority of young railroad towns. To sum up, in a few words : The village of Hampshire is a busy, thriving place; its citizens industrious, wide awake and enterprising, and deserving of the greatest prosperity.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Humphreys made Postmaster. In 1875, it was removed to the new village of Hampshire, and S. C. Rowell became Postmaster. Recently, there has been an office re-established at the old town. Rev. Robert Williams, already mentioned as one of the early settlers and a local minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was the first preacher in the township, and preached the first sermon heard in the infant settlement ; and the first church built in the township was the German Evangelical, situated in the "northeast corner" of the town, and was erected in 1852. It is
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hampshire. 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 Hampshire.
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.
1893Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Grew from 483 people in 1880 to 7,667 in 2020, more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hampshire’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Hampshire post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Hampshire is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #487 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.
4% of Hampshire’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2004.
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 (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), 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.
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