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CHistory
History · Palatine Township

Palatine Township’s post office opened in 1850, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns · #530 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Palatine Township was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1977. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1923 on, and the census since 1880.

1850first post office
2on the National Register
3%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Palatine Township began

When was Palatine Township founded?

1850

The Palatine Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1866. Another post office, Deer Grove (1846), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 731 in 18802020 census: 114,403176 years

How historic is Palatine Township?

C

More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Palatine Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1866.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Palatine Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Palatine Township is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #530 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Palatine Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1850, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19402.8% of homes (±0.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 33%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 31%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Palatine Township ranks #296 on History.

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 Palatine Township’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Palatine Township’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata’s 1866 falls in the same era, so the grade doesn’t depend on which one is used.

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 →

What stands out about Palatine Township’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.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Palatine Township, and 3 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19237 editions of the USGS map, 1923 to 1993. Watch Palatine Township change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Palatine Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Palatine Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMaxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois1…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Deer Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Deer LakeHowe TerraceLake Park Estates
Gone or out of use
Deer Grove Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Palatine Township
CadyDeer GroveMount Hope

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the map

Palatine Township on the map, 1923 to 1993

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

Palatine Township on the 1923 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1935 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1953 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1961 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1972 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1980 USGS mapPalatine Township on the 1993 USGS map1923Barrington 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 Palatine Township.

The story

How Palatine Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Palatine Township.

Read it all →

The first European-American to settle in Palatine is generally thought to be George Ela, who built a log cabin in the area later called Deer Grove. Ela was one of the first of a wave of pioneers to migrate to northern Illinois following the Black Hawk War. A road that passes through the western edge of Palatine is called Ela Road in his honor. Palatine is thought to be named after a town in New York.

The Village of Palatine was founded in 1866. It was built around a station on the new Chicago and North Western Railway. Joel Wood surveyed and laid out the village, earning him the title of Palatine's founder. One of Palatine's original downtown streets is named after Wood.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Palatine Township, 1846 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1846Post officeThe Deer Grove post office opens
  3. 1857Post officeThe Deer Grove post office closes
  4. 20th century
  5. 1923On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1988In the archiveMaxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois1988
By decade

Palatine Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Maxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois19881988Maxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois1988
1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Birchwood Park outdoor sign2021Birchwood Park outdoor signBirchwood Park outdoor sign2021Birchwood Park outdoor signBig rock and Willow in2021Big rock and Willow inAmazon Delivery station in2021Amazon Delivery station inChase Bank branch in2020Chase Bank branch inProtestors at Palatine Village Hall2019Protestors at Palatine Village HallOktoberfest in2019Oktoberfest inPalatine Township, IL, USA2012Palatine Township, IL, USAStreet Mapping Vehicle2011Street Mapping VehiclePalatine, IL, USA2011Palatine, IL, USAPalatine, IL, USA - panoramio (1)2011Palatine, IL, USA - panoramio (1)Cell Phone Tower2011Cell Phone TowerSunset in2009Sunset inInterior of Cutting Hall2007Interior of Cutting HallCutting Hall Exterior Full2007Cutting Hall Exterior FullCutting Hall Exterior 22007Cutting Hall Exterior 2Deer grove sunset2006Deer grove sunset
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.

Maxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois1988
Retake this viewMaxwellstreetjimidavispalatineillinois1988, 1988

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Palatine Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts

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

People over time

Palatine Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,00050,00055,00060,00065,00070,00075,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 68,557

Between 731 and 68,557 people in every census since 1880.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Barrington Township4 historic placesA−Wheeling Township2 historic placesBArlington Heights3 historic placesC+Palatine2 historic placesCHoffman Estates1 historic placeDSchaumburg Township2 historic placesCInvernessIts storyC+Ela TownshipIts storyC−Rolling MeadowsIts storyD−Barrington4 historic placesA

Questions about Palatine Township’s history

What year was Palatine Township founded?

The Palatine Township post office opened in 1850, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1866.

How does Palatine Township rank for history?

Palatine Township is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns, #530 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.

How old are the homes in Palatine Township?

3% of Palatine Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1977.

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 (18), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.