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C+History
History · Lisle

Lisle dates to 1832

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #504 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Lisle was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.

1832founded
0on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lisle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lisle began

When was Lisle founded?

1832

Lisle dates its founding to 1832 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 48 in 18802020 census: 24,223194 years

How historic is Lisle?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1854.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lisle’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lisle is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #504 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lisle’s overall grade.
Founding era1832, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19402.6% of homes (±1.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 34%

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 Lisle’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 any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1832.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Lisle’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19087 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1993. Watch Lisle change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1832: 194 years of Lisle.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lisle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lisle’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSt. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domest…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Lisle on the map, 1908 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lisle. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Lisle on the 1908 USGS mapLisle on the 1948 USGS mapLisle on the 1954 USGS mapLisle on the 1962 USGS mapLisle on the 1972 USGS mapLisle on the 1980 USGS mapLisle on the 1993 USGS map1908Wheaton 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 Lisle.

Timeline

Lisle, 1832 to 1984

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832
    FoundingLisle is established
  3. 1854Post officeThe Lisle post office opens
  4. 1864Post officeThe Lisle Station post office opens
  5. 1871Post officeThe Lisle Station post office closes
  6. 20th century
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1922In the archiveSt. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domestic Science Room, (Male Kucharky) (NBY 4093)
  9. 1979In the archiveAmtrak press train with Superliners at Lisle, October 1979
  10. 1984Born hereBrian Plotkin is born here
The story

How Lisle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lisle.

Read it all →

In 1830, Bailey Hobson, a Quaker, was the first settler in what would become DuPage County, Illinois, as well as Lisle Township. The town of Lisle was settled in 1832, by brothers James C. Hatch and Luther A. Hatch after the close of the Black Hawk War. The two brothers acquired land near what is now Ogden Avenue and began a small farming community named "DuPage" or "East DuPage" because, of its proximity to the east branch of the DuPage River.

In 1831, DuPage County was founded. To the west of the Lisle settlement, on the west branch of the DuPage river, brothers Joseph and John Naper founded Naper's Settlement, present-day Naperville, Illinois.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Lisle, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
St. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domestic Science Room, (Male Kucharky) (NBY 4093)1922St. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domestic Science Roo…
1930s–1960snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1970s1 item
Amtrak press train with Superliners at Lisle, October 19791979Amtrak press train with Superliners at Lisle, October…
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today15 recent
Untitled photo2024Untitled photoAerial view of Lisle, Illinois, October 20242024Aerial view of Lisle, Illinois, October 2024Aerial view of International Motors campus, October 20242024Aerial view of International Motors campus, October 2…Jewel-Osco (Lisle, Illinois) 12023Jewel-Osco (Lisle, Illinois) 1Celithemis elisa-female lateral2020Celithemis elisa-female lateralMorton arboretum2016Morton arboretumLLD2015LLD20140317 86 Pace Bus, Lisle, Illinois-2201420140317 86 Pace Bus, Lisle, Illinois-2Lisle, IL, USA2012Lisle, IL, USAWürzen-012011Würzen-01Eindecken-012011Eindecken-01Roadway on Railway2010Roadway on RailwayWyndham Lisle - Chicago Hotel & Executive Meeting Center (DuPage County, IL)2008Wyndham Lisle - Chicago Hotel & Executive Meeting Cen…Hyatt Lisle (DuPage County, IL)2008Hyatt Lisle (DuPage County, IL)Sierra Atlantic Lisle office2007Sierra Atlantic Lisle office
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

St. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domestic Science Room, (Male Kucharky) (NBY 4093)
Retake this viewSt. Joseph's Bohemian Orphanage, Domestic Science Room, (Male Kucharky) (NBY 4093), 1922

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lisle’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Lisle, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001880190019201940196019802000202024,223

Grew from 48 people in 1880 to 24,223 in 2020, more than tenfold.

8 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Lisle’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Lisle’s post office has been open since 1854. Another post office, Lisle Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lisle
1854–today
Lisle Station
1864–1871
18501940today
1cemetery inside Lisle
Saint Procopius Abbey

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Naperville2 historic placesB+Downers Grove1 historic placeB+WoodridgeIts storyD−Wheaton6 historic placesB+

Questions about Lisle’s history

What year was Lisle founded?

In 1832, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lisle’s post office opened in 1854, and the census of 1880 counted 48 people here.

How does Lisle rank for history?

Lisle is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #504 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 Lisle?

3% of Lisle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1983.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (17), 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) 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.