On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lake Holiday is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #734 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lake Holiday’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 Lake Holiday’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 two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±0.9 points) is firm at this size.
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 →
What stands out about Lake Holiday’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lake Holiday yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Lake Holiday is a census-designated place located on Lake Holiday in Northville Township, LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 5,687 as of the 2020 census. The homes on the western banks of the lake are served by the Somonauk Fire Department/EMS and the Somonauk School District, while the eastern banks of the lake are covered by Sandwich municipal services (Fire/EMS, CUSD 430). However, due to the community's location south of the LaSalle-DeKalb county line, neither Sandwich Police nor Somonauk Police have any jurisdiction. Instead, the area is patrolled by local security, which has limited authority. For serious matters, the community is covered by the LaSalle County…
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 4,761 to 5,687 (+19%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Lake Holiday is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #734 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 Lake Holiday?
0.6% of Lake Holiday’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
