Morton Grove’s post office opened in 1874, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #547 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Morton Grove was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1961. Its Register listing is the Herbert A. Dilg House. Its Register listing is the Herbert A. Dilg House. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1900.
Founding year: the first Morton Grove post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1895.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Morton Grove’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Morton Grove is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #547 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 Morton Grove’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 Morton Grove’s 0.4 sits near the middle of its state (59% 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 C+. The pre-1940 share (±1.1 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1895 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 Morton Grove’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A handful of farmers from England settled in 1830–1832, despite there being no roads from Chicago, only Native American trails, as the defeat of the Black Hawk War and the 1833 Treaty of Chicago led Native Americans to leave the areas. Farmers from Germany and Luxembourg started arriving by the end of the decade, clearing the land by cutting the walnut, oak, hickory, elm and maple trees. Logs were initially hauled to a sawmill at Dutchman's Point (later Niles, Illinois) at the corner of what became Milwaukee, Waukegan and Touhy Avenues, and stumps burned for charcoal that could then be hauled to heat homes in expanding Chicago. Immigrant John Miller erected a water-powered sawmill near where the Chicago River met the future Dempster Street shortly after 1841. This simplified homebuilding in the area, as well as facilitated further lumber sales. A road (first known as Miller's Mill Road …
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 Morton Grove post office opened in 1874, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1895.
How does Morton Grove rank for history?
Morton Grove is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #547 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 Morton Grove?
One place: the Herbert A. Dilg House (listed 2009).
How old are the homes in Morton Grove?
3% of Morton Grove’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (11), 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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