The Lansing post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1893. Two smaller post offices, Oakglen (1878) and Bernice (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 830 in 19002020 census: 29,076161 years
How historic is Lansing?
C+
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Lansing post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1893.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lansing’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lansing is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #433 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lansing’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 Lansing’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1893 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 Lansing’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first family to settle in Lansing was that of August Hildebrandt in 1843. Henry, George, and John Lansing settled the area in 1846, which was incorporated in 1893. Early settlement in the village was primarily by Dutch and German immigrants. Industrial development of the surrounding Calumet region attracted immigrants from Ireland and Eastern Europe to the village in the 20th century. These settlement patterns are reflected in Lansing's current demographics; according to the census the top five ancestries that were in Lansing in 2000 were German (17%), Polish (13%), Irish (13%), Dutch (11%), and Italian (7%). However, according to City-data.com 2016 estimates, these ancestries began to change in the mid-90s and early 2000s, when most residents were of African American ancestry (8,871), followed by Latinos (4,183), and Asian (Southeast Asian) (255).
Passages that mention Lansing, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 860Read the page →
Read the text
Lansing is a small village 011 the Chicago, Pittsburgh & St. Louis Hailroad, ubout twenty-eight miles distant from Chicago. It is located on a sandy ridge, although the surrounding country is somewhat low, abounding in lino natural meadows, admirably adopted for grazing purposes. The principal industry of Lansing is baling nay, in which business Christian Schulte is the largest dealer and manufacturer.
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
Lansing, 1865 to 1983
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.
The Lansing post office opened in 1865, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1893.
How does Lansing rank for history?
Lansing is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #433 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 Lansing?
One place: the Ford Airport Hangar (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Lansing?
10% of Lansing’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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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