More historic than 16% of U.S. towns · #677 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of New Lenox was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. Below: maps from 1890 on and the census since 1950.
The New Lenox post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1946.
First census: 1,235 in 19502020 census: 27,214175 years
How did New Lenox 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?
C−
More historic than 16% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Lenox is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #677 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’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’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 (±0.7 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Souvenir of settlement and progress of Will County, Ill. A review of the lives of our presidents, political, military and commercial history of the United States and of the state of Illinois ... Business directory of Joliet ... Comp. specially for the peo1884Read the page →
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of the Du Page, partly in Will county and partly in Du Page county, there were about twenty families. In Yankee settlement which embraced part of the towns of Homer, Lockport and New Lenox, there were twenty or twenty-five families. Along the Hickory in the town of New Lenox, including the Zarley settlement in Joliet township, there were probably twenty families more, and at Eeed's and Jackson Grove there were six or eight more.
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 502Read the page →
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The first bridge was built across Hickory Creek, near .John Gougar's. It was built of logs, and was a rough affair. The township is well supplied with excellent bridges at the present day — having two iron bridges of improved patent, one across Hickory Creek, at New Lenox village, and the other across the north branch, while there are a number of excellent wooden bridges of substantial build. The first road laid out was the State road from Chicago to Bloomington, but was a little off the direct route, and was never used. The first traveled road was from Joliet east to State line, and passed by Gougar's. The first post
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The history of Will County, Illinois, containing a history of the county ... a directory of its real estate owners1878 · page 495Read the page →
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Grougar afterward settled, and where his son John Gougar now lives. They built a log cabin on this place and had broken five acres of prairie, when John Gougar came on in the Fall of 1830 and bought them out. After selling out to Gougar, they made a claim where the village of New Lenox now stands, put up a shanty, and, after a few years, moved out somewhere in the vicinity of the town of Crete, where some of the family are still living. In September, 1830, John Gougar came from Indiana and, as stated above, bought Rice's claim. A man named Grover had been hired by the elder Gougar to come out
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, 1851 to 1994
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The New Lenox 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 rank for history?
New Lenox is more historic than 16% of U.S. towns, #677 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?
1% of New Lenox’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1998.
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, 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), 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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