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History · Norton Township

Norton Township’s post office opened in 1868, and 44% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 2000.

1868first post office
0on the National Register
44%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Norton Township began

When was Norton Township founded?

1868

The Norton Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Norton (1868), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,008 in 20002020 census: 936158 years
Founding year: the first Norton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Norton Township’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 Norton Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Norton Township’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norton Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Norton Township, in brief

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

Norton Township is one of seventeen townships in Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 936 and it contained 394 housing units. Norton Township was organized in 1857 out of Essex Township.

Its first post office opened in 1868. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 978 to 936 (-4%).

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

Timeline

Norton Township, 1868 to 1923

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1868Post officeThe Norton post office opens
  3. 1879Post officeThe Norton post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Norton Township on the map, 1923 to 1973

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

Norton Township on the 1923 USGS mapNorton Township on the 1973 USGS map1923Herscher 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 Norton Township.

People over time

Norton Township, census by census

02004006008001,00020002020Peak: 1,008

Between 936 and 1,008 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Norton Township

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

See all →
A
Arnold BeckmanAmerican chemist · b. 1900
Lewis M. LongAmerican politician · b. 1883
J
Joseph ZellerAmerican politician in Pennsylvania · b. 1918
D
Dutch LonborgAmerican football, basketball, and baseball pla… · b. 1898
A
Al BraithwoodAmerican baseball player · b. 1892
A
Arch WardAmerican journalist · b. 1896
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Norton, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Norton Post Officepost office
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Norton Township
ColmanEldridgevilleFloridgevilleMount HopeSmith

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.

Rogers TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPilot TownshipIts storyBEssex TownshipIts storyC+

Questions about Norton Township’s history

What year was Norton Township founded?

The Norton Township post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.