Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns · #763 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Hawthorn Woods was built recently: 0.5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1960.
Hawthorn Woods dates its founding to 1958 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1960.
More historic than 2% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hawthorn Woods is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #763 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age 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 Hawthorn Woods’ 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: 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hawthorn Woods’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hawthorn Woods. 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 Hawthorn Woods.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hawthorn Woods.
Hawthorn Woods was previously inhabited by the Potawatomi tribe. The 1833 Treaty of Chicago brought thousands of Native Americans in the Midwest to cede their lands, which Yankee farmers would lay claim to. The area became a popular destination for both German and Dutch immigrants.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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 Survey
Born hereMartin Redlicki is born hereWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Grew from 239 people in 1960 to 9,062 in 2020, more than tenfold.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hawthorn Woods’ Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1958, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1960 counted 239 people here.
Hawthorn Woods is more historic than 2% of U.S. towns, #763 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.
0.5% of Hawthorn Woods’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1998.
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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.
