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C−History
History · Oak Brook

Oak Brook dates to 1958, and 4 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns · #653 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Oak Brook was built recently: 0.4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 1 buildings between them. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1960.

1958founded
4on the National Register
0.4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oak Brook’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Oak Brook began

When was Oak Brook founded?

1958

Oak Brook dates its founding to 1958 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1960.

First census: 324 in 19602020 census: 8,16368 years

How historic is Oak Brook?

C−

More historic than 18% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Oak Brook’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oak Brook is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #653 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Oak Brook’s overall grade.
Founding era1958, from Wikidata: founded 1945 or later, an older era than 2% of U.S. townsD−Homes built before 19400.4% of homes (±0.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%DNational Register4 listings, 5.0 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 18%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 15%

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 Oak Brook’s 5.0 sits above most of its state (75% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1958.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Oak Brook’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18918 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Oak Brook change.Landmarks on the Register4 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oak Brook’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Oak Brook on the map, 1891 to 1993

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

Oak Brook on the 1891 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1900 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1927 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1953 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1963 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1972 USGS mapOak Brook on the 1980 USGS mapOak Brook 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 Oak Brook.

On the National Register

4 historic places in Oak Brook

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
4
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Graue Mill
Graue MillFrancis Stuyvesant Peabody EstateButler School
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Tudor Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Georgian Revival1
Graue MillBuilding
Francis Stuyvesant Peabody EstateTudor Revival
Butler SchoolColonial Revival
All 4 listings
Fullersburg Woods Forest PreserveDistrict · listed 2026

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Oak Brook came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oak Brook.

Read it all →

Oak Brook was originally known as Fullersburg, named after Ben Fuller, an early settler.

Oak Brook was incorporated as a village in 1958, due in large part to the efforts of Paul Butler, a prominent civic leader and landowner whose father had first moved to the vicinity in 1898 and opened a dairy farm shortly thereafter. Prior to incorporation, the name Oak Brook was used by local residents to distinguish their community from neighboring Hinsdale and Elmhurst, going back to the founding of the Oak Brook Civic Association almost two decades earlier.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Oak Brook, 1861 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861In the archive100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First Source of Running Water Mammoth Spring Was City's
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1958
    FoundingOak Brook is established
  6. 1986Born hereRishi Shah is born here
By decade

Oak Brook, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First Source of Running Water Mammoth Spring Was City's1861100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First Source of Runn…
Today11 recent
RSNA HQ2020RSNA HQChamberlain Group global headquarters2017Chamberlain Group global headquartersWinter View of a Barn at the Dorothy and Sam Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oakbrook, IL2015Winter View of a Barn at the Dorothy and Sam Dean Nat…Horse Barn at Dorothy and Sam Dean Nature Sanctuary, Oakbrook, IL2015Horse Barn at Dorothy and Sam Dean Nature Sanctuary, …Oak Brook, IL 60523, USA2012Oak Brook, IL 60523, USAButlerSchoolOakBrook2011ButlerSchoolOakBrookBeautiful Chapel2011Beautiful ChapelMcDonaldsHQIL2008McDonaldsHQILOak Brook2007Oak BrookWater pump 07432006Water pump 0743US-IL-Chicagoland-Oak Brook2006US-IL-Chicagoland-Oak Brook
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.

100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First Source of Running Water Mammoth Spring Was City's
Retake this view100 Years of Elmhurst News p. 31 First Source of Running Water Mammoth Spring Was City's, 1861

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Oak Brook, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,0001960198020002020Peak: 9,178

Between 324 and 9,178 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Mammoth Springs
Gone or out of use
Butler SchoolschoolTorade Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Oak Brook
BronswoodSaint JohnsZion Evangelical

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.

Hinsdale8 historic placesB+Oakbrook TerraceIts storyD−Westmont1 historic placeC−Lombard2 historic placesC+York Township13 historic placesB+Downers Grove1 historic placeB+Proviso Township20 historic placesA−Elmhurst6 historic placesBDowners Grove Township11 historic placesA−

Questions about Oak Brook’s history

What year was Oak Brook founded?

In 1958, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1960 counted 324 people here.

How does Oak Brook rank for history?

Oak Brook is more historic than 18% of U.S. towns, #653 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 Oak Brook?

4 listings: 2 buildings, among them the Graue Mill (listed 1975, the first), and 2 historic districts, the Francis Stuyvesant Peabody Estate and the Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve, with 1 contributing buildings.

How old are the homes in Oak Brook?

0.4% of Oak Brook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1979.

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), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.