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C+History
History · Maple Park

Maple Park’s post office opened in 1880, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1937 on, and the census since 1880.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Maple Park’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Maple Park began

When was Maple Park founded?

1880

The Maple Park post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Lodi Station (1854), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 385 in 18802020 census: 1,433146 years

How historic is Maple Park?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Maple Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Maple Park’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maple Park is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Maple Park’s overall grade.
Founding era1880, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.0% of homes (±7.2) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%BNational 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 37%
NewerOlder

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 Maple Park’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 C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.2 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 →

The story

How Maple Park came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maple Park.

Read it all →

Maple Park was originally called "Lodi", after Lodi, Lombardy. The present name comes from a nearby grove of sugar maple trees. A post office called "Lodi" was established first in 1837, and the post office was renamed "Maple Park" in 1880.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maple Park, 1854 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1854Post officeThe Lodi Station post office opens
  3. 1861Born hereFrank Rinehart is born here
  4. 1880Post officeThe Lodi Station post office closes
  5. 1880Post officeThe Maple Park post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1937On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1942In the archiveAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419v
By decade

Maple Park, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s10 items
Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419v1942Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419vAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07420v1942Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07420vAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07421v1942Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07421vAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07422v1942Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07422vAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b09754v1942Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b09754vAgriculture. Women on farms. Like many another U.S. farmer's wife, Mrs. Harold Sontag of Maple Park, Illinois, takes an…1942Agriculture. Women on farms. Like many another U.S. f…Agriculture. Women on farms. Like many another U.S. farmer's wife, Mrs. Harold Sontag of Maple Park, Illinois, takes an…1942Agriculture. Women on farms. Like many another U.S. f…Agriculture. Women on farms. The horses, cows, and chickens cared for, Mrs. Harold Sontag of Maple Park, Illinois, star…1942Agriculture. Women on farms. The horses, cows, and ch…Agriculture. Women on farms. Induction of much of America's manpower into the armed forces brings increased activity to…1942Agriculture. Women on farms. Induction of much of Ame…Agriculture. Women on farms. Induction of much of America's manpower into the armed forces brings increased activity to…1942Agriculture. Women on farms. Induction of much of Ame…
1950s–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
Today2 recent
Union Pacific Railroad No. 4014 Steam Locomotive Coming in Fast - July 20192019Union Pacific Railroad No. 4014 Steam Locomotive Comi…Aquaviva Winery2012Aquaviva Winery
On the map

Maple Park on the map, 1937 to 1975

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

Maple Park on the 1937 USGS mapMaple Park on the 1968 USGS mapMaple Park on the 1975 USGS map1937Sycamore 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 Maple Park.

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.

Agriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419v
Retake this viewAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419v, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Maple Park, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600188019001920194019601980200020201,433

Grew from 385 people in 1880 to 1,433 in 2020, 3 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Maple Park’s post office has been open since 1880. Another post office, Lodi Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lodi Station
1854–1880
Maple Park
1880–today
18501940today

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

Help out

Finish Maple Park’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 viewAgriculture. Women on farms. 8b07419v: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Maple Park’s history

What year was Maple Park founded?

The Maple Park post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Maple Park rank for history?

Maple Park is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. 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 Maple Park?

17% of Maple Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.2 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1996.

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 (7), the Library of Congress (5), 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.