Founding year: the first Harvard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Harvard’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harvard is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #475 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 Harvard’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 Harvard’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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1867 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Harvard’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The original owners of the land that came to be Harvard, Illinois, were Abram Carmack and Jacob Davis, who obtained it from the government in 1845 and sold it to Gilbert Brainard shortly afterward. Upon Gilbert Brainard's death, the land was purchased by Amos Page, Otis Eastman, and Elbridge Gerry Ayer. These three men planned the layout of the town and named it "Harvard" in honor of Harvard, Massachusetts. The plat was signed by Judge J. M. Strode in Woodstock, Illinois, on November 25, 1856. Shortly afterward, Amos Page and Otis Eastman sold their shares of the property to Elbridge Gerry Ayer. Mr.Ayer's involvement came out of his business interest in the extension of the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company railroad west from Cary, toward Janesville, Wisconsin. The newly platted town of Harvard was located directly on the route of the extension, and in April 1856, the rai…
Passages that mention Harvard, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of McHenry County, Illinois1922 · page 378Read the page →
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CEMETERY Just to the south and east of Harvard is found the beautiful, though silent city, the cemetery which was laid out about the time the village of Harvard was platted. In all northern Illinois one can find none so beautiful and well cared for. It can be seen from incoming trains, as having been originally planned, and is annually kept up to a high state of perfection. The shade trees and flowers in season are indexes to the passerby of a people of religious and cultivated tastes. This is indeed
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History of McHenry County, Illinois1885 · page 453Read the page →
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as Postmaster. In the latter part of that period the Wisconsin division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was projected and he tried to put the road through to this place, but failing he came to what is now Harvard. In January, 1856, he purchased 400 acres of land, and in the following spring laid out the town of Harvard. Here he has since. resided. At first he was engaged in the mercantile business and in taking care of his real estate and encouraging settlements in the place.
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History of McHenry County, Illinois1922 · page 374Read the page →
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& Northwestern railroad, and is beautifully situated in section 35 of Chemung Township. It was platted November 25, 1856 by Amos Page, proprietor! Abraham Carmack and Jacob A. Davis were the original owners of the town site of Harvard, having obtained it from the government in 1845. They sold it to Gilbert Brainard, and after his death the land was secured by a company of railroad men, who laid out the town in 1856. E. G. Aver, a member of the company named the place Harvard in honor of Harvard, Mass. Many additions have been made to the
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History of McHenry County, Illinois1885 · page 462Read the page →
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He took $100 and bought eighty acres of Government land, and with the rest commenced housekeeping. In 1857 he sold his farm and moved to Harvard and bought another in the corporation of Harvard. He owns seventy-five acres in Harvard and 465 acres outside the corporation. He raises grain, but makes a specialty of raising Norman horses and Victor hogs. He also has a fine apiary of fifty-two swarms. In addition to his farm he Jowns a large brick business block in Harvard, and ten lots with three
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
Harvard, 1857 to 1985
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
The Harvard post office opened in 1857, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1867.
How does Harvard rank for history?
Harvard is more historic than 39% of U.S. towns, #475 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 Harvard?
18% of Harvard’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (6), 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.
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