More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #660 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of New Lenox Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1950.
How New Lenox Township began, and where its name came from
When was New Lenox Township founded?
1851
The New Lenox Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1946. Two smaller post offices, Spencer (1857) and Marley (1880), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,235 in 19502020 census: 43,709175 years
How did New Lenox Township get its name?
Originally named Tracey in honor of the general superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad, the town was later renamed by New Lenox Township's first Rock Island Line supervisor, John van Duser, in honor of Lenox, New York, Van Duser's hometown, at the request of Tracey.
How historic is New Lenox Township?
C−
More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first New Lenox Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1946. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Lenox Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Lenox Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #660 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Lenox Township’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 New Lenox 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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1946.
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 New Lenox Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Marley SchoolschoolSchool Number 124schoolSpencer Schoolschool
1cemetery inside New Lenox Township
Marshall
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the map
New Lenox Township on the map, 1890 to 1993
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Lenox Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1890Des Plaines 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 New Lenox Township.
The first European settlement in the modern-day village of New Lenox was settled near the intersection of US-30 and Gougar Road as Van Horne Point. New Lenox Township was established when Will County was created in 1852 with the building of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad main line from Chicago to Omaha. Originally named Tracey in honor of the general superintendent of the Rock Island Railroad, the town was later renamed by New Lenox Township's first Rock Island Line supervisor, John van Duser, in honor of Lenox, New York, Van Duser's hometown, at the request of Tracey. The Village of New Lenox was incorporated on October 4, 1946 under the guidance of F. Carlton Cole, Walter Baers, and 44 other community leaders.
Passages that mention New Lenox Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 377Read the page →
Read the text
shop on the west side of the river as early as 1834. The first school house was built about 1836-7, and was in the present city limits, and is further noticed on another page. A man named John Watkins taught the first school in this primitive temple of learning, and is still living (in New Lenox Township), though old and feeble and nearly blind. This was not, however, the first school in the township, or settlement it was then ; but the honor of teaching the first school is awarded to a Miss Cleveland, who, it is said, taught in the " old fort," which has been frequently mentioned in this work. She lived in California,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 494Read the page →
Read the text
In New Lenox Township was embraced the larger portion of what, in the early times, was termed the Hickory Creek Settlement — a neighborhood celebrated for its hospitality, and for more pretty girls, perhaps, than any section of the county, unless we except Homer's famous Yankee Settlement, and with it, Hickory Creek was, in this respect, a foeman worthy of its steel. There are many old grizzled fellows still to be found whose countenances become animated, and whose eyes kindle with pleasure, as they recall the pleasant reminiscences of Hickory Creek Settlement — of the quilting parties, "kissing-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
New Lenox Township, 1857 to 1919
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The New Lenox Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1946.
How does New Lenox Township rank for history?
New Lenox Township is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #660 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 New Lenox Township?
2% of New Lenox Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (14), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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