Half of Lincolnshire’s homes were built after 1992
More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #737 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Lincolnshire was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1960.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lincolnshire is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #737 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 Lincolnshire’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 Lincolnshire’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 (±0.6 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 Lincolnshire’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first inhabitants of what would become the village of Lincolnshire were Native American Potawatomi migrants from Canada and Wisconsin. The tribesmen left these northern places in the 16th century in search of a warmer, more temperate climate. The first Europeans to visit the area were the French Jesuit explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. Shortly after arriving in 1673 at the site of what later became Waukegan, they sailed down the Des Plaines River and made contact with the local Potawatomi, who would dominate the area by 1768. One of the Potawatomi villages that they encountered stretched along the west bank of the Des Plaines River, from what later became Illinois Route 22 south to Aptakisic Road, the first real settlement in the Lincolnshire and Half Day region.
Lincolnshire is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #737 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 Lincolnshire?
0.4% of Lincolnshire’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 (10), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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