Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #544 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Orland Township was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1987. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1890 on, and the census since 2000.
The Orland Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orland Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #544 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 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 Orland Township’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% 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 Orland Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Orland 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 Orland Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Orland Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Orland Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2020 census, its population was 98,246.
Its first post office opened in 1851. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 97,558 in 2010, 98,246 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Orland Township’s page.
Retake this view · +15The 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.
Between 91,418 and 98,246 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Orland Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Orland Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Orland Township post office opened in 1851, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Orland Township is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #544 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.
2% of Orland Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1987.
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 Wikimedia Commons (4), 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.
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