Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns · #326 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: maps from 1892 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 60% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Jackson Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #326 of 768 in Illinois. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Jackson Township’s 2.6 sits above most of its state (69% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Jackson Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Jackson Township. 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 Jackson Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Jackson Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Jackson Township is in Will County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,898 and it contained 1,595 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,100 to 3,898 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Jackson Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
and he and his father (also a widower) now live together, the old and the young bereaved ones forming a single family. Samuel Bowen and his two sons were from the Quaker State of William Penn, and came also in 1849. Bowen had first settled in Jackson Township, where he remained some time before coming to Manhattan. He has been dead some years. Bryan Gorivan and son •settled in the town in 1848. They were from Ould Ireland, the "blissed Gim of the Say," are still living, and are prosperous farmers of the community.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
in the township between 12 and 21 who cannot read and write. In France, Spain, Italy and some other Eastern countries, usually termed enlightened nations, and several of the southern States, from 30 to 60 per cent of the adults cannot even read. The inhabitants of Jackson Township are proud of their schools, as they have good reason to be. Jackson Township is bounded on the north by Joliet, east by Manhattan, south by Florence and west by Channahon. It is a full Congressional town, and is described as such as Town 34 north, Range 10 east of Third Principal
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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 3,532 and 4,094 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Jackson Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Jackson Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Jackson Township is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #326 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.
12% of Jackson Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System 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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