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History · Naplate

31% of Naplate’s homes were built before 1940

0on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Naplate’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Naplate are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Naplate’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Naplate’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Naplate’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Naplate came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Naplate.

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The name Naplate was created at the time of incorporation by combining the name of the primary employer, National Plate Glass Company into Naplate.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Naplate, decade by decade

Today2 recent
NaplateEF320172017NaplateEF32017Naplate, Illinois2012Naplate, Illinois
Famous people

Famous people close to Naplate

Nobody well known was born in Naplate itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Jim BottomleyAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1900
Herbert Spencer JenningsAmerican biologist · b. 1868
M
Mary MorelloAmerican activist · b. 1923
B
Bo MolendaAmerican football player and coach · b. 1905
L
Leo CahillAmerican coach and manager in the CFL · b. 1928
E
Earl ButeAmerican sports coach, athletics administrator · b. 1899
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ottawa7 historic placesA+

Questions about Naplate’s history

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia 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.