Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the newest of U.S. towns. What drives it
Most of Oakwood Hills was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1960.
Oakwood Hills dates its founding to 1959 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1960.
Among the newest of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oakwood Hills is among the newest of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
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 Oakwood Hills’ 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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oakwood Hills’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oakwood Hills. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oakwood Hills.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oakwood Hills yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Oakwood Hills is a village in McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1959. The population was 2,076 at the 2020 census.
Oakwood Hills was established in 1959. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 2,083 in 2010, 2,076 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Between 213 and 2,194 people in every census since 1960.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oakwood Hills’ Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Oakwood Hills itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1959, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1960 counted 213 people here.
Oakwood Hills is among the newest of U.S. towns. 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.
0.0% of Oakwood Hills’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1981.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 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.
