Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns · #613 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Na-Au-Say Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 2005. Below: maps from 1925 on and the census since 2000.
The Na-Au-Say Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Kendall (1848) and Na-Au-Say (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 22% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Na-Au-Say Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #613 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Na-Au-Say Township’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.
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 →
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 Na-Au-Say 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Na-Au-Say 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 Na-Au-Say Township.
From Wikipedia’s history of Na-Au-Say Township.
The township's name was chosen by popular vote and came from the Native American village on the Aux Sable Creek (a branch of which flows through the township), which was named for a Potawatomi leader.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
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.
Grew from 1,672 people in 2000 to 10,771 in 2020, 6 times over.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Na-Au-Say Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Na-Au-Say Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Na-Au-Say Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Na-Au-Say Township is more historic than 22% of U.S. towns, #613 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.
5% of Na-Au-Say Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.7 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 2005.
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 Wikipedia, 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.
