Midlothian’s post office opened in 1922, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns · #550 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the George R. Thorne House. Its Register listing is the George R. Thorne House. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1930.
The Midlothian post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Bremen (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,775 in 19302020 census: 14,325104 years
How historic is Midlothian?
C
More historic than 31% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Midlothian post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Midlothian’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Midlothian is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #550 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Midlothian’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 Midlothian’s 0.7 sits near the middle of its state (61% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.9 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 →
Like many southwest suburbs of Chicago in the 1800s and early 1900s, the area now known as the Village of Midlothian consisted of a few area farmers being surrounded by large and small endeavors alike as the industrial age began its exponential expansion process in the Bremen Township in Cook County, Illinois community. By 1854, the sprawling landscape comprising the township of Bremen had a trail of railroad track carrying both passengers and commodities between Chicago and Joliet on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It had been a somewhat brutal battle for the Illinois Central Railroad over the decades, with Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln working hard to establish the presence of the Illinois Central Railroad on a State level until Douglas moved to the federal level. By 1850, Douglas was busy working on federally mandated development of transportation plans into …
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 Midlothian post office opened in 1922, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Midlothian rank for history?
Midlothian is more historic than 31% of U.S. towns, #550 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 Midlothian?
One place: the George R. Thorne House (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Midlothian?
10% of Midlothian’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1965.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
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