Mokena’s post office opened in 1853, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #486 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Most of Mokena was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1880.
Founding year: the first Mokena post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1880.
History grade
What drives Mokena’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mokena is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #486 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mokena’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 Mokena’s 4.5 sits above most of its state (74% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 9 historic buildings outnumber those of 75% 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 (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1880 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.
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 Mokena’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1880 and 1900, then grew more than tenfold.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mokena’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Mokena on the map, 1890 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Mokena. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1890Des Plaines 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 Mokena.
The story so far
Mokena, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mokena yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mokena ( moh-KEE-nuh) is a village in Will County, Illinois, United States. It is a southwest suburb of Chicago. The population was 19,887 at the 2020 census. The Census Bureau's 2019 estimate found that the population had increased to 20,159.
Its first post office opened in 1853. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 18,740 to 19,887 (+6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mokena, 1878–1928
Passages that mention Mokena, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 512Read the page →
Read the text
Isaac Francis, and consisted of a couple of car-loads of lumber. There were nostations, and when the railroad men asked where they should put it off, were told anywhere in the township, said they could leave it one place as well as another, and put it off near the present village of Mokena. In 1855, the " Cut-Off," or Joliet Division of the Michigan Central was completed through, and the townhas since been blest with unbounded railroad facilities. These roads were built without aid from the township, and so were independent of the town, and the town of them. There has, we believe, been another road projected, and, per-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 507Read the page →
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same section. It is said that Kane was in the settlement all through the Black Hawk war, and settled on the place afterward occupied by Matthew Van Home ; but this we are inclined to doubt somewhat. Crowl settled near the village of Mokena, in 1834 or 1835. He finally moved to Missouri ; Kane moved South in a short time after the war was over, and afterward to Missouri, where he died many years ago. Daniel Wilson came from Ohio and settled in 1834 or
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Souvenir of settlement and progress of Will County, Ill. A review of the lives of our presidents, political, military and commercial history of the United States and of the state of Illinois ... Business directory of Joliet ... Comp. specially for the peo1884 · page 405Read the page →
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A. Crowle 1835 Robt. Williams... 1832 Mohena Village. — This village was platted in 1852 by Allen Denny, and named Mokena. A postoffice was established here in 1853, with Warren Knapp, master. About the time the village was laid out a stone building was erected for Knapp and Smith.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Will County, Illinois1928 · page 679Read the page →
Read the text
Ozias W. McGovney was educated in the public schools of Mokena, and Oak Park High School, Oak Park, 111. He worked in the post office at Mokena as a clerk, and in 1917 came to Joliet where he was employed as a clerk in the collection department of the Will County National Bank.
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
Mokena, 1853 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Mokena post office opened in 1853, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1880.
How does Mokena rank for history?
Mokena is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #486 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 Mokena?
One place: the McGovney-Yunker Farmstead (listed 2006).
How old are the homes in Mokena?
1% of Mokena’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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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