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B+History
History · Naperville Township

Naperville Township dates to 1831, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #260 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Naperville Township was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1870.

1831founded
2on the National Register
1%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Naperville Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Naperville Township began

When was Naperville Township founded?

1831

Naperville Township dates its founding to 1831 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,713 in 18702020 census: 104,765195 years

How historic is Naperville Township?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Naperville Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naperville Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #260 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Naperville Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1831, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 19401.4% of homes (±0.5) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register2 listings, 1,037 historic buildings, 98.4 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 66%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Naperville Township ranks #169 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 Naperville Township’s 98.4 sits above most of its state (93% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1,037 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Naperville Township’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A+. The pre-1940 share (±0.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1831.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Naperville Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1869–1988.On the map since 19087 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1993. Watch Naperville Township change.Deep rootsEstablished in 1831: 195 years of Naperville Township.
★ What stands out · By decade

Naperville Township, decade by decade

7 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Bird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois 18691869Bird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinoi…
1900s–1930s11 items
West Side School of Naperville, Ill. Little Red Cross Workers1900West Side School of Naperville, Ill. Little Red Cross…View of campus, North Western College1913View of campus, North Western College71st Session Illinois Conference, Evangelical Association191571st Session Illinois Conference, Evangelical Associa…Naperville, Illinois 19281928Naperville, Illinois 1928Historic American Buildings Survey Copied by Joseph Hill OLD SEATING PLAN OF CHURCH - First Baptist Church, 34 Washingt…1933Historic American Buildings Survey Copied by Joseph H…MapHABS ILL,22-NAPVI,3- (sheet 0 of 2) - First Baptist Church, 34 Washington Avenue1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,3- (sheet 0 of 2) - First Baptist C…HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,3- (sheet 0 of 2) - First Baptist Church, 34 Washington Avenue1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,3- (sheet 0 of 2) - First Baptist C…HABS ILL,22-NAPVI.V,1- (sheet 0 of 3) - Hobson House1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI.V,1- (sheet 0 of 3) - Hobson HouseHABS ILL,22-NAPVI.V,1- (sheet 0 of 3) - Hobson House1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI.V,1- (sheet 0 of 3) - Hobson HouseHABS ILL,22-NAPVI,2- (sheet 4 of 4) - Hobson Law Office, 215 South Main Street1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,2- (sheet 4 of 4) - Hobson Law Offi…HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,1- (sheet 0 of 6) - Pre-Emption House, Chicago Avenue and Main Street1933HABS ILL,22-NAPVI,1- (sheet 0 of 6) - Pre-Emption Hou…
1960s–1980s4 items
Jaguar E-Type V12 (cropped)1969Jaguar E-Type V12 (cropped)Jaguar E-Type V121969Jaguar E-Type V12AMTK Train 5 at Naperville, IL on December 12, 19871987AMTK Train 5 at Naperville, IL on December 12, 1987Naperville, IL on April 18, 19881988Naperville, IL on April 18, 1988
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Bridge at the Naperville Riverwalk2006Bridge at the Naperville RiverwalkThe long and winding road2004The long and winding road
On the map

Naperville Township on the map, 1908 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Naperville Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Naperville Township on the 1908 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1948 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1953 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1962 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1972 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1980 USGS mapNaperville Township on the 1993 USGS map1908Wheaton 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 Naperville Township.

Timeline

Naperville Township, 1831 to 1969

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831
    FoundingNaperville Township is established
  3. 1869In the archiveBird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois 1869
  4. 1871Post officeThe Eola post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveWest Side School of Naperville, Ill. Little Red Cross Workers
  7. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1913In the archiveView of campus, North Western College
  9. 1928In the archiveNaperville, Illinois 1928
  10. 1933In the archiveHistoric American Buildings Survey Copied by Joseph Hill OLD SEATING PLAN OF CHURCH - Fir…
  11. 1969In the archiveJaguar E-Type V12 (cropped)
The story

How Naperville Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Naperville Township.

Read it all →

Before any settlement, Naperville was home to Native American tribes. In 1641, the first European contact with Native Americans in Illinois was made with members of the Iliniwek tribe. The Iliniwek was the predominant tribe throughout Illinois at the time. They were later forced off the land by the Potawatomi tribe. The Potawatomi inhabited Naperville when the first settlers arrived. There was a major Potawatomi village at the present site of downtown Naperville, reached from Chicago by a trail that became Ogden Avenue. A minor village was near where Bailey Hobson later built his mill in 1834. Bailey Hobson is credited as the first white settler in Naperville; he built a cabin across the DuPage River's West Branch from the mill in 1830, and built his home there in 1835.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Bird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois 1869
Retake this viewBird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage County, Illinois 1869, 1869

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Naperville Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 1,037 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1,037
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Naperville Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000120,000140,000160,00018801900192019401960198020002020149,540

Grew from 1,713 people in 1870 to 149,540 in 2020, more than tenfold.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Naperville Township’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Batavia JunctionEola
Gone or out of use
Aero Estates AirportairportSpring Brook Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Naperville Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
6 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBird's eye view of Naperville, DuPage C…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lisle TownshipIts storyC+Winfield Township3 historic placesB−Aurora Township28 historic placesANaperville2 historic placesB+WarrenvilleIts storyC+Aurora29 historic placesAWheatland TownshipIts storyD

Questions about Naperville Township’s history

What year was Naperville Township founded?

In 1831, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Naperville Township’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1870 counted 1,713 people here.

How does Naperville Township rank for history?

Naperville Township is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #260 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.

How old are the homes in Naperville Township?

1% of Naperville Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1992.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (15), the Library of Congress (3), 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.