Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1939 on and old-book passages.
The Oneco Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Oneco (1840), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Oneco Township is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.
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 Oneco Township’s 36.0 sits above most of its state (90% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Oneco Township’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Oneco Township.
This small town was settled in its present place because it was at the bottom of a basin, which helped protect them from the harsh winter winds. Native Americans came and helped settle the village, in an attempt to make peace with the settlers and have shelter for the winter as well.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Oneco Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
In this year the town of Oneco, in Oneco Township, was laid out under the direction of John K. Brewster, and Orangeville, within sight of Oneco, was also surveyed about this period by John M. Curtis, though its platting and building up were delayed until 1846, when John Bowers came in and established the place.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The early settlement of Oneco Township is somewhat involved in doubt. The eifort was made to ascertain to whom was due the distinguished honor of first venturing into the wilderness, at present comprehended within the limits of the township ; but, owing to the fact that none of the earlier pioneers of that region survive the march of events, this labor was attended with a success disproportioned to the importance of the subject in hand. Simon Davis, it is believed, was among the first to settle in this portion of " Brewster Precinct," he coming about the year 1833. After him, it appears that Andrew Clarno
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Orangeville, the third settlement in size in Stephenson County, is located in the southern part of Oneco Township, on the banks of Richland Creek, whose current turns its one and only mill. It is situated on the Madison branch of the Illinois Central Railroad, about fifteen miles north of Freeport by railroad and fourteen by road.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
John W. Stocks taught from 1865 to 1866, went to college at Mt. Morris in 1866-67 and taught 1868-1874. Ira Lowry, of Loran Township, was a teacher from 1846 to 1869 in this county and in Iowa. J. C. Dorn, of Oneco, taught in Oneco Township about 1845 to 1860. Israel G. Wise began teaching in Orangeville in 1873. Hon. Andrew Hinds was a teacher in Oneco Township in 1848. Joseph H. Jackson was a teacher in Buckeye about 1850. Mr. R. K.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oneco Township. 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 Oneco Township.
Nobody well known was born in Oneco Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, Oneco, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Oneco Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Oneco Township is more historic than 94% 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.
37% of Oneco Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.8 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
