More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #586 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Hillside was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1961. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Hillside post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Hillside’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hillside is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #586 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 Hillside’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 Hillside’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 C. 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.
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 Hillside’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
German Lutheran immigrants planted farms and constructed Hillside's first school and church (Immanuel) near the intersection of Wolf and 22nd Street in the 1840s, which marked the start of the community's formal settlement. Although the majority of Hillside's later construction was located north of 12th Street, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School were incorporated inside village boundaries, giving Hillside its characteristic form.
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 Hillside post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Hillside rank for history?
Hillside is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #586 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 Hillside?
8% of Hillside’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 1961.
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 (12), 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) 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.
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