Naperville dates to 1831, and 2 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #233 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Naperville was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. 2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 1,036 buildings. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1836.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Naperville’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naperville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #233 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’s overall grade.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Naperville ranks #155 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’s 68.8 sits above most of its state (92% 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’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 (±0.4 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
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.
In 1831, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Naperville’s post office opened in 1836, and the census of 1870 counted 1,713 people here.
How does Naperville rank for history?
Naperville is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #233 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 Naperville?
Two places: the Pine Craig (listed 1975) and the Naperville Historic District (1977).
How old are the homes in Naperville?
3% of Naperville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1990.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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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