Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns · #440 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Owen Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1918 on.
The Owen Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Owen (1883) and Latham Park (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Owen Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #440 of 768 in Illinois. 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 Owen Township’s 2.8 sits above most of its state (70% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 Owen Township’s history is told.
Two other post offices 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).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Owen 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 Owen Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Owen Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Owen Township is located in Winnebago County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,803 and it contained 1,546 housing units.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 3,803 to 3,608 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The 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.
Nobody well known was born in Owen Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Owen Township post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Owen Township is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns, #440 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.
8% of Owen Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.
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, 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.
