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A−History
History · Lockport Township

Lockport Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 7 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns · #172 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Lockport Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. 7 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 2 buildings. Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1870.

1837first post office
7on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lockport Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lockport Township began

When was Lockport Township founded?

1837

The Lockport Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1853.

First census: 1,772 in 18702020 census: 58,844189 years

How historic is Lockport Township?

A−

More historic than 80% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Lockport Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1853.
History grade

What drives Lockport Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lockport Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #172 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lockport Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19409.1% of homes (±1.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register7 listings, 79 historic buildings, 13.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 80%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 78%

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 Lockport Township’s 13.2 sits above most of its state (85% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 79 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1853.

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 Lockport Township’s past

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

On the map since 18926 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1993. Watch Lockport Township change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1898–1908.Lost villages5 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · On the map

Lockport Township on the map, 1892 to 1993

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

Lockport Township on the 1892 USGS mapLockport Township on the 1923 USGS mapLockport Township on the 1954 USGS mapLockport Township on the 1962 USGS mapLockport Township on the 1973 USGS mapLockport Township on the 1993 USGS map1892Joliet 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 Lockport Township.

By decade

Lockport Township, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1890s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s–1900s18 items
Chicago drainage canal & controlling works1898Chicago drainage canal & controlling worksChicago drainage canal and controlling works1898Chicago drainage canal and controlling worksChicago Drainage Canal1900Chicago Drainage CanalOld canal boats at Lockport, Ill's1900Old canal boats at Lockport, Ill'sPower house, Chicago Drainage Canal1900Power house, Chicago Drainage CanalWater tower, Dellwood1907Water tower, DellwoodHigh school building1907High school buildingDancing pavillion, Dellwood Park1907Dancing pavillion, Dellwood ParkCongregational Church and parsonage1907Congregational Church and parsonageState St., looking north1907State St., looking northWater-tower at night, Dellwood1907Water-tower at night, DellwoodLocks, Sec. 2, drainage canal1907Locks, Sec. 2, drainage canalGrand stand, ball park, Dellwood1907Grand stand, ball park, DellwoodA bit of scenery, Dellwood Park1907A bit of scenery, Dellwood ParkBoat house and lower basin, Dellwood1907Boat house and lower basin, DellwoodFoot bridge, lower basin, Dellwood Park1907Foot bridge, lower basin, Dellwood ParkEast bridge, upper basin, Dellwood Park1907East bridge, upper basin, Dellwood ParkThe Great locks, Chicago Drainage Canal1908The Great locks, Chicago Drainage Canal
1910s–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
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bonnie BraeCarillonFairmontLakewood FallsSouth Lockport
Gone or out of use
School Number 97schoolWilson Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lockport Township
Mount CalvaryRussian

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story so far

Lockport Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Lockport Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Lockport is a city in Will County, Illinois, United States, located 30 miles southwest of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 26,094. The city was incorporated in 1853. It is situated along the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal, and was the headquarters of the canal when the canal was operating. A section of the canal runs through Lockport, including the remains of the canal's Lock No. 1 from which the town received its name. The canal right-of-way is now the Illinois and Michigan National Heritage Corridor.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 60,010 in 2010, 58,844 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Lockport Township in 1878

Passages that mention Lockport Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.

Iowa, where he was living when last heard from. Peter Polly and a younger brother were in the fort, and came from Indiana in the Summer of 1832. Selah Lanfear was from New York, and came to the settlement in 1832. He is said to have first settled in Lockport Township. Yankee Settlement extended to …
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 517Read the page →
Read the text

Iowa, where he was living when last heard from. Peter Polly and a younger brother were in the fort, and came from Indiana in the Summer of 1832. Selah Lanfear was from New York, and came to the settlement in 1832. He is said to have first settled in Lockport Township. Yankee Settlement extended to tlte river in Lockport Township, and it is a rather difficult task sometimes to keep all on their respective sides of the fence. David and Alva Crandall were from

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
no houses except the Canal office and perhaps a log cabin or two. In one of the latter a man had lived for a time, named Everdeen, but had moved to Bachelor's Grove. There are some who accredit the man Everdeen as the first settler in Lockport Township, but we have been unable to learn anything ver…
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 422Read the page →
Read the text

no houses except the Canal office and perhaps a log cabin or two. In one of the latter a man had lived for a time, named Everdeen, but had moved to Bachelor's Grove. There are some who accredit the man Everdeen as the first settler in Lockport Township, but we have been unable to learn anything very definite concerning him, and, from information received from other sources, are of the opinion that he was not the first settler in the town at all. He moved to Bachelor's Grove, in Coot County, but what further became of him we do not know. Selah Lanfear settled here in 1832, and was so near the line as to be hard

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

Lockport Township, 1892 to 1900

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1898In the archiveChicago drainage canal & controlling works
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveChicago Drainage Canal
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.

Chicago drainage canal & controlling works
Retake this viewChicago drainage canal & controlling works, 1898

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

7 listings protect 79 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmark
1
none yet
historic buildings protected
79
each building in a district counts
first listed
2004
Lockport Lock, Dam and Power House Historic Dis…
Lockport Lock, Dam and Power House Historic District
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Italian Renaissance1
Lockport Lock, Dam and Power House Historic DistrictItalian Renaissance

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Lockport Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,0001880190019201940196019802000202026,094

Grew from 1,772 people in 1870 to 26,094 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Help out

Finish Lockport Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewChicago drainage canal & controlling wo…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Joliet Township15 historic placesA+Homer Township1 historic placeCDu Page Township1 historic placeB−Joliet14 historic placesAFairmontIts storyC+Plainfield Township4 historic placesB+

Questions about Lockport Township’s history

What year was Lockport Township founded?

The Lockport Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1853.

How does Lockport Township rank for history?

Lockport Township is more historic than 80% of U.S. towns, #172 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 Lockport Township?

7 listings: 1 historic district, the Lockport Lock, Dam and Power House Historic District, with 2 contributing buildings. 79 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lockport Township?

9% of Lockport Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1991.

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 (1), the Library of Congress (17), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.