Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #258 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Milton Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1908 on and the census since 1930.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Milton Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #258 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Milton Township ranks #167 on History.
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 Milton Township’s 5.9 sits above most of its state (77% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 70 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Milton Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Milton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Milton Township is one of nine civil townships in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 120,237 and it contained 46,254 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 117,067 to 120,237 (+3%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Milton Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Milton Township.
Grew from 17,113 people in 1930 to 120,237 in 2020, 7 times over.
10 censuses, 1930–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Milton Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Milton Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Milton Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #258 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.
14 listings: 1 historic district, the Chicago Golf Club, with 6 contributing buildings. 70 historic buildings in all.
9% of Milton Township’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 1976.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
