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Norwood Park SignPhoto: Theemausoliam · CC BY-SA 4.0
CHistory
History · Norwood Park Township

Norwood Park Township dates to 1874

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns · #575 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Norwood Park Township was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1961. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1930.

1874founded
0on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Norwood Park Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Norwood Park Township began

When was Norwood Park Township founded?

1874

Norwood Park Township dates its founding to 1874 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1930.

First census: 14,408 in 19302020 census: 27,441152 years

How historic is Norwood Park Township?

C

More historic than 27% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Norwood Park Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Norwood Park Township is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #575 of 768 in Illinois. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Norwood Park Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1874, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19408.7% of homes (±1.8) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C+National 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 27%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 25%

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 Norwood Park 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.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1874.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C. The pre-1940 share (±1.8 points) is firm at this size.

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 Norwood Park 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 writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18917 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Norwood Park Township change.Old housesHalf of Norwood Park Township’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Norwood Park Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view8213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank H…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Norwood Park Township on the map, 1891 to 1993

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

Norwood Park Township on the 1891 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1900 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1928 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1953 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1963 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1972 USGS mapNorwood Park Township on the 1993 USGS map1891Riverside 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 Norwood Park Township.

The story

How Norwood Park Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Norwood Park Township.

Read it all →

The first inhabitant of European descent in the area was Mark Noble, who arrived in 1833 and constructed a house that is still standing as of 2024, the oldest in the Chicago city limits. English farmers were the main group in the 1830s, although they would later be supplanted by Germans and to a lesser extent Poles and Scandinavians. In 1853 the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad, which would eventually become the Chicago and North Western Railway and is currently Metra's Union Pacific Northwest Line, laid tracks in the area, and in 1868 the Norwood Land and Building Association was formed and purchased the land. A hotel was constructed shortly thereafter in an attempt to lure tourists from Chicago, although it was ultimately unsuccessful. The first Post Office and store were built respectively in 1870 and 1871.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Norwood Park Township, 1874 to 1978

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874
    FoundingNorwood Park Township is established
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1943Born hereRal Donner is born here
  6. 1978In the archive8213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank Hanes Chicago Tribune December 23 1978A
By decade

Norwood Park Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1970s2 items
8213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank Hanes Chicago Tribune December 23 1978A19788213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank Hanes Chicago T…John Gacy Home Diagram Kokomo Tribune December 28 19781978John Gacy Home Diagram Kokomo Tribune December 28 1978
1980s–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
Today10 recent
Presence Resurection Medical Center2016Presence Resurection Medical CenterTaft Freshman Academy, Chicago IL2014Taft Freshman Academy, Chicago ILPassionist Fathers Monastery2013Passionist Fathers MonasteryHoward Johnson Lobby - Flickr - nitram2422012Howard Johnson Lobby - Flickr - nitram2425943 East Circle Avenue20125943 East Circle AvenueSt. Monica Chicago2011St. Monica ChicagoUS Navy 100313-N-8848T-331 Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class Ken Snider, left, a recruit division commander at Rec…2010US Navy 100313-N-8848T-331 Aviation Structural Mechan…Norwood Park2010Norwood ParkMETX 142 in Norwood Park on the UP Harvard Subdivision2010METX 142 in Norwood Park on the UP Harvard SubdivisionClouds - panoramio (19)2009Clouds - panoramio (19)
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.

8213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank Hanes Chicago Tribune December 23 1978A
Retake this view8213 West Sumerdale exhumations Frank Hanes Chicago Tribune December 23 1978A, 1978

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Norwood Park Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00019401960198020002020Peak: 41,995

Between 14,408 and 41,995 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

NorridgeIts storyC−Harwood HeightsIts storyC−Park Ridge2 historic placesBChicago407 historic placesA+Leyden Township1 historic placeB−

Questions about Norwood Park Township’s history

What year was Norwood Park Township founded?

In 1874, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1930 counted 14,408 people here.

How does Norwood Park Township rank for history?

Norwood Park Township is more historic than 27% of U.S. towns, #575 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 Norwood Park Township?

9% of Norwood Park Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1961.

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 (12), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.