Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #191 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
20 places in town are on the National Register, among them seven historic districts with 973 buildings between them. Below: 23 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1880.
Lake Forest dates its founding to 1857 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1880.
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Forest is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #191 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 Lake Forest’s 514 sits above most of its state (98% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 998 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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.
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.
2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1895McCullough Residence
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence
1895Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, interior
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, bedroom
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, library
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, a room
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, dining room
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, a corner in the shr…
1895Mr. Hugh R. McCullough residence, a corner in the shr…
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, exterior
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, exterior
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, interior
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, interior
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, interior
1900Lake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCullough, interior
1900Gateway to residence of Mr. D.B. Jones![C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & North Western Railway] station](https://images.townratings.com/story/4435/ed9080341ce100d61827-s.jpg)
1900C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & North Western Railway] …![C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & North Western Railway] station](https://images.townratings.com/story/4435/51ce295dec9989da4002-s.jpg)
1900C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & North Western Railway] …![McCormick's bridge, C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & North Western Railway], near Lake Forest, Ill](https://images.townratings.com/story/4435/289a212b8e51fc57c763-s.jpg)
1900McCormick's bridge, C. & N.W. Ry. [i.e. Chicago & Nor…![Owensia [i.e. Onwentsia] Golf Club](https://images.townratings.com/story/4435/544408dfac81b08125b0-s.jpg)
1901Owensia [i.e. Onwentsia] Golf Club![Owensia [i.e. Onwentsia] Golf Club](https://images.townratings.com/story/4435/f11a080763c8a1ef7911-s.jpg)
1901Owensia [i.e. Onwentsia] Golf ClubFrom Wikipedia’s history of Lake Forest.
The Potawatomi inhabited Lake County before the United States Federal Government forced them out in 1836 as part of Indian Removal of tribes to areas west of the Mississippi River.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Lake Forest, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In this township is the city of Lake Forest, a place of note and importance for its institutions of learning, aided by its natural and artificial attractions. In 1855, a number of gentlemen of Chicago, among whom were H. M.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Thomas Tiernan settled near the place since known as the Toll Gate, on the old plank road near Waukegan ; Otis Hinckley settled on the Green Bay road, a short distance from where since stands the station house of the railroad at Lake Forest ; John Flood settled at what is since known as Spaulding's Cor¬ ners ; Joseph Dehart, at the place since known as the New York House. The Ylinsky brothers settled come distance north of that, in what is now the town
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereKarl Patterson Schmidt is born hereIn the archiveMcCullough ResidenceIn the archiveLake Forest residence of Hugh R. McCulloughBuiltJ. Ogden Armour House is builtBuiltRobert P. Lamont House is built
BuiltClifford Milton Leonard Farm is built
Born herePete Wilson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBuiltRagdale is built
Born hereMatt Grevers is born hereEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lake Forest. 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 Lake Forest.
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.
1904Sheet 2 of 6Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lake Forest’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 877 and 20,059 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lake Forest’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Lake Forest’s post office has been open since 1859. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1857, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lake Forest’s post office opened in 1859, and the census of 1880 counted 877 people here.
Lake Forest is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #191 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.
20 listings: 13 buildings, among them the Ragdale (listed 1976, the first), and 7 historic districts with 973 contributing buildings. 998 historic buildings in all.
18% of Lake Forest’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 the Library of Congress (23), the National Register of Historic Places (20), 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.
