The story
Read it all →How Polo came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Polo.
The community was named after Marco Polo. Polo was incorporated on February 16, 1857.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
A−History
History · Polo
Polo’s post office opened in 1856, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns. What drives it
7 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1909 on and old-book passages.
1856first post office
7on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
5famous people
Quick answers
How Polo began
When was Polo founded?
1856
The Polo post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name.
2020 census: 2,291170 years
How historic is Polo?
A−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Polo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Polo’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Polo is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Polo’s overall grade.
Founding era1856, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194037.5% of homes (±7.5) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register7 listings, 28.1 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 82%
NewerOlder
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 Polo’s 28.1 sits above most of its state (88% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 7 listings outnumber those of 73% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Polo’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Polo’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Polo’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.On the National Register
7 historic places in Polo
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
7
each building in a district counts
first listed
1974
Henry D. Barber House
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Classical Revival4
Henry D. Barber HouseClassical Revival
Bryant H. and Lucie Barber HouseClassical Revival
Buffalo Township Public LibraryClassical Revival
Polo Independent Order of Odd Fellows Lodge No. 197Classical Revival
David and Julia Watson HouseBuilding
Zenas Aplington HouseBuilding
Dr. William Burns HouseBuilt 1854
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Polo in 1878
Passages that mention Polo, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Ogle County, Illinois, containing a history of the county, its cities, towns, etc., a biographical directory of its citizens, war record of its volunteers in the late rebellion, general and local statistics ... history of the Northwest, his1878 · page 558Read the page →
Read the text
Confectionery, Fruits, etc.—G. Chaffee, 1863 ; Jacob M. Powell, 1877. (It is to be remarked that there is no "saloon" for the sale of beer or stronger liquors in the city of Polo, and has not been for more than thirteen years. The establishments above mentioned are elegantly fitted up, with ice cream parlors attached, and furnish fashionable resorts for the young people of the city.)
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.
Timeline
Polo, 1854 to 1909
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1854BuiltDr. William Burns House is built
- 1856Post officeThe Polo post office opens
- 1867Born hereGeorge Perkins Clinton is born here
- 1873
Born hereGeorge Peek is born here - 1877Born hereEdgar N. Clinton is born here
- 1885Born hereBob Bracken is born here
- 20th century
- 1909
In the archiveZenas Aplington (1815–1862) in Union Army uniform
By decade
Polo, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
19091910s–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
2007
2007
2007Then & 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.
Retake this viewZenas Aplington (1815–1862) in Union Army uniform, 1909
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Polo’s page.
Retake this view · +15Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Polo
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Questions about Polo’s history
What year was Polo founded?
The Polo post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Polo rank for history?
Polo is more historic than 82% 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.
What is on the National Register in Polo?
7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Henry D. Barber House (listed 1974, the first).
How old are the homes in Polo?
38% of Polo’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1952.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (5), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.