Normal dates to 1854, and 8 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns · #383 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Normal was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. 8 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 58 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1981 on, and the census since 1860.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1861.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Normal’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Normal is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #383 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 Normal’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 Normal’s 11.8 sits above most of its state (84% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 63 historic buildings outnumber those of 86% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share (±0.8 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1854.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Normal’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was laid out with the name North Bloomington on June 7, 1854, by Joseph Parkinson. From its founding, it was generally recognized that Jesse W. Fell was the force behind the creation of the town. He had arranged for the new railroad, which would soon become the Chicago and Alton Railroad, to pass west of Bloomington and then curve to cross the Illinois Central Railroad at a point where he owned or controlled land. Most of the original town lies south of these tracks, with Beaufort Street as its northern limit, and some blocks west of the Illinois Central and north of the tracks. Fell, his brothers, and associates quickly laid out many additions to the original town.
Passages that mention Normal, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Semi-centennial history of the Illinois State Normal University, 1857-19071907 · page 26Read the page →
Read the text
The space given in this chapter to the 33rd Illinois Regiment, is believed to be deserved on account of the prominence given to the Normal regiment by the fact that this regiment originated at Normal, but we do not forget that a very much larger number of students enlisted in other Illinois regiments.
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
Normal, 1854 to 1981
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1854, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Normal’s post office opened in 1861, and the census of 1860 counted 847 people here.
How does Normal rank for history?
Normal is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns, #383 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 Normal?
8 listings: 5 buildings, among them the John W. Cook Hall (listed 1986, the first), 2 historic districts, the Cedar Crest Addition Historic District and the Children's Village-Illinois Soldiers' and Sailors' Children's School, with 58 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 63 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Normal?
5% of Normal’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 (10), the Library of Congress (6), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
1880
1890
1909
1914
1917
2011
2011
2010
2008
2008
2007
2007
