Founding year: the first Leyden Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Leyden Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Leyden Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #388 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Leyden Township’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 Leyden Township’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 historic buildings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. 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 Leyden Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Leyden Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1891Riverside sheet · 1:62,500
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Leyden Township.
The story so far
Leyden Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Leyden Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Leyden Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 93,096 and it contained 35,824 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1850. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 92,890 in 2010, 93,096 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
Leyden Township, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 Leyden Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Leyden Township rank for history?
Leyden Township is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #388 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 Leyden Township?
14% of Leyden Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1880
1880
1880
