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C−History
History · Northfield

Northfield’s post office opened in 1850

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns · #627 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Northfield was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1930.

1850first post office
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Northfield’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Northfield began

When was Northfield founded?

1850

The Northfield post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 311 in 19302020 census: 5,751176 years

How historic is Northfield?

C−

More historic than 21% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Northfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Northfield’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Northfield is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #627 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Northfield’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.2% of homes (±2.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 21%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 18%

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 Northfield’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 still be C−. The pre-1940 share (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Northfield’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1993. Watch Northfield change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Northfield’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewChicago Tribune Jun 12 1927: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Northfield on the map, 1900 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Northfield. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Northfield on the 1900 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1929 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1953 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1963 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1972 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1980 USGS mapNorthfield on the 1993 USGS map1900Highwood 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 Northfield.

The story so far

Northfield, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Northfield yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Northfield is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, located approximately 19 miles (31 km) north of downtown Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village's population was 5,751. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of Chicago that belong to New Trier and Northfield Townships and the greater North Shore.

Its first post office opened in 1850. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 5,420 to 5,751 (+6%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Northfield, 1850 to 1998

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850Post officeThe Northfield post office opens
  3. 1867Post officeThe Northfield post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1927In the archiveChicago Tribune Jun 12 1927
  7. 1953Born hereKathy Kemper is born here
  8. 1998Born hereGrace Joyce is born here
By decade

Northfield, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s1 item
Chicago Tribune Jun 12 19271927Chicago Tribune Jun 12 1927
1930s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Date unknown1 to date
Northfield campus (New Trier High School)Date?Northfield campus (New Trier High School)
Today4 recent
I-94 EB and US 41 SB split - Northfield, IL - June 20242024I-94 EB and US 41 SB split - Northfield, IL - June 20…Kraft Foods HQ2012Kraft Foods HQKraft Foods HQ Northfield IL (cropped)2012Kraft Foods HQ Northfield IL (cropped)Northfield High School2005Northfield High School
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Chicago Tribune Jun 12 1927
Retake this viewChicago Tribune Jun 12 1927, 1927

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Northfield’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Northfield, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000194019601980200020205,751

Grew from 311 people in 1930 to 5,751 in 2020, more than tenfold.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Northfield’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Northfield

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
G
Grace JoyceAmerican rower · b. 1998
Kathy KemperAmerican tennis player · b. 1953
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Northfield had its own post office from 1850 to 1867.

Northfield
1850–1867
18501940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DorothyStirling Estates

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

NorthbrookIts storyDGlenview2 historic placesC+Winnetka10 historic placesA−Glencoe6 historic placesA−Wilmette14 historic placesA

Questions about Northfield’s history

What year was Northfield founded?

The Northfield post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Northfield rank for history?

Northfield is more historic than 21% of U.S. towns, #627 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 Northfield?

4% of Northfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1971.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.