3 of Nunda Township’s places are on the National Register
More historic than 48% of U.S. towns · #413 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listings are the Terwilliger House. Most of Nunda Township was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1926 on.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Nunda Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #413 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 Nunda Township’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 Nunda Township’s 1.0 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: our sources. 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 Nunda Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Terra Cotta, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burtons BridgeColby PointEmerald ParkFerndaleFox River ShoresHolcombville CornersRawson BridgeRoyal Oaks Mobile Home ParkTerra Cotta
Gone or out of use
Cherry Valley SchoolschoolEmerald Park SchoolschoolLincoln SchoolschoolPrairie Schoolschool
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Nunda Township
Crystal Lake Memorial ParkHolcombvilleRidgefieldSaint Patricks
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Nunda Township, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Nunda Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Nunda Township is located in McHenry County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 38,245 and it contained 14,492 housing units. Nunda Township changed its name from Brooklyn Township on December 28, 1850. Nunda Township shares the distinction with McHenry Township as being the two largest townships by land area in McHenry County, at 48.3 square miles (130 km2) each. It contains the census-designated place of Burtons Bridge. Nunda is pronounced locally NUN-duh.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 38,245 in 2010, 38,344 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Nunda Township, 1886 to 1927
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Nunda Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1926McHenry 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 Nunda Township.
On the National Register
3 historic places in Nunda Township
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Nunda Township is more historic than 48% of U.S. towns, #413 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 Nunda Township?
3 listings: 1 building, among them the Terwilliger House (listed 1979, the first). 4 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Nunda Township?
5% of Nunda Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), 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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
