Highland Park’s post office opened in 1861, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #173 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
35 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Fort Sheridan Historic District, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 160 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1880.
From Highland Park’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Highland Park began
When was Highland Park founded?
1861
The Highland Park post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1869. Two smaller post offices, Port Clinton (1850) and Ravinia (1874), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 1,154 in 18802020 census: 30,176165 years
How historic is Highland Park?
A−
More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Highland Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1869.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Highland Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Highland Park is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #173 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Highland Park’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 Highland Park’s 65.5 sits above most of its state (92% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 199 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1869 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 Highland Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A traveler in the area in 1833 described visiting a village of bark-covered structures where he ate roasted corn with a chief named Nic-sa-mah at a site likely located south of present-day Clavey Road and east of the Edens Expressway. In 1847, two German immigrants, John Hettinger and John Peterman founded a town along Lake Michigan, which they called St. John's. Soon, the town was abandoned, due to questions regarding ownership of the land. Three years later, another German Immigrant, Jacob Clinton Bloom, founded Port Clinton, which happened to be just south of St. John's. Port Clinton was described by Elijah Middlebrook Haines as "one of the most promising villages in the city". In 1854, a lighthouse was built in Port Clinton, thanks to funding by the US Congress and sponsorships from Illinois representatives. Despite having a functioning lighthouse with a keeper, a pier, sawmill, and…
Passages that mention Highland Park, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The past and present of Lake County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a biographical directory ... war record ... early settlers ... statistics ... history of Illinois ... the Northwest ... etc., etc ..1877 · page 266Read the page →
Read the text
Highwood is a village in the township of Deerfield, on the railroad, adjoin¬ ing the town plat of Highland Park on the north, but the depot or station house at this place is about a mile from that at Highland Park. The town plat of this place was laid out in April, 1871. It is about three miles south of Lake Forest. It is connected with Highland Park by broad avenues, on some of which the buildings are scattered along, so that the dividing point between the two places is not discernible. The streets and avenues were first laid out by Rev. Dr. Evarts. Directly east of the railroad depot he secured a handsome
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The past and present of Lake County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a biographical directory ... war record ... early settlers ... statistics ... history of Illinois ... the Northwest ... etc., etc ..1877 · page 260Read the page →
Read the text
After the construction of the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, a station was established at Highland Park and a town plat was laid out and the work of building up a town at this point commenced. This was done by a company organized and known as the Port Clinton Land Company. Among the stock¬ holders of this company were some of the most substantial men of the country at that day, mostly residents of Chicago. They were Francis C. Sherman, Dr. C. V. Dyer, M. D. Ogden, Elisha S. Wadsworth, Ezra L. Sherman, Walter S. Gurnee and Hiram A. Tucker.
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
Highland Park, 1850 to 1986
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Highland Park. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Highwood 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 Highland Park.
Every building
Highland Park, building by building, 1900–1924
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 Highland Park post office opened in 1861, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1869.
How does Highland Park rank for history?
Highland Park is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #173 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.
What is on the National Register in Highland Park?
35 listings: 26 buildings, 5 historic districts with 160 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 3 structures. 199 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Highland Park?
24% of Highland Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (9), the National Register of Historic Places (35), 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.
★ Landmark
1910
