Lyons’ post office opened in 1848, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 85% of U.S. towns · #127 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Chicago Portage National Historic Site and the Hofmann Tower. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Lyons post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lyons’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lyons is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #127 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lyons’ 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 Lyons’ 1.9 sits above most of its state (67% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points). 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 Lyons’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lyons was incorporated in 1888, though activity in the area dates back much further. In 1673 French Explorer Louis Joliet and Jesuit missionary Father Pierre Marquette left Green Bay, Wisconsin, by canoe in search of a western passage to the Pacific. As they traveled into the Spanish-controlled area of Louisiana, they realized that the mighty Mississippi River drained into the already well-known Gulf of Mexico. With winter approaching, they headed north as quickly as possible. To save time, the Potawatomi who were with them were encouraged to change their route to the Illinois River. The shortcut led to the Des Plaines River and caused the French travelers to discover “Le Portage.” This half-mile wide area of land connecting the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River, over which they could carry their canoes and supplies, was to become the discovery for which they would both become fa…
Passages that mention Lyons, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cook County, Illinois1909 · page 329Read the page →
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The Chicago and Dixon road was one of the first highways through the town. The depot at West Lyons was established in 1868. The first school at La Grange is said to have been taught in 1852-53 by Miss Gertrude Smith. Samuel Vial and family located in this town in 1834. Afterward he was supervisor for five years. In 1879 La Grange was incorporated as a village. The vote for incorporation was forty-two and against incorporation thirty-four. The high school at La Grange is one of the most successful and satis-
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History of Cook County, Illinois1909 · page 328Read the page →
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hotel was on the well traveled Naperville road. The latter was first called the Brush Hill road and later Barry Point road. It was later a continuation of the Southwestern Plank road, which is now Ogden avenue. The first schoolhouse in the village of Lyons was erected by Theodorus Doty, the teacher's name being Miss Ellen Storrs. The old frame schoolhouse did duty for many years both as a schoolhouse and church. The Catholics were early in this part of the county. They had an organization at Lyons and
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History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 652Read the page →
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corporation, is bounded on the north by Thirty-ninth Street. On the east by State, on the south hy Eightyseventh Street and on the west hy the township of Lyons. It was incorjioraled as a village with the above given boundaries in February, 1S65; but by a subsequent act of the Legislature in 1867 the charter was amended, giving enlarged and special powers to its authorities, who as village officers legislate for and
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History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 814Read the page →
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The first log house built in Lyons was one lanlt r>> lofthoa Sackett for a dwelling house, who also built the first hotel there. Theodorus Doty afterward bought out Sackett in the hotel business, he in turn being succeeded by Webster. This tavern was on the Napcrwiic road, about opposite where the ice-houses are at present ; iH«4. located. „ 'The first road laid out through the town of Lyons
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.
By decade
Lyons, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1960s. 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.
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 Lyons post office opened in 1848, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Lyons rank for history?
Lyons is more historic than 85% of U.S. towns, #127 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 Lyons?
Two places: the Chicago Portage National Historic Site (listed 1966) and the Hofmann Tower (1978).
How old are the homes in Lyons?
26% of Lyons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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