More historic than 8% of U.S. towns · #733 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Prospect Heights was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1980.
Founding year: the first Prospect Heights post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Prospect Heights’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Prospect Heights is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #733 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
D
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Prospect Heights’ overall grade.
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 Prospect Heights’ 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be D. The pre-1940 share (±1.3 points) is firm at this size. 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 Prospect Heights’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Prospect Heights. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1900Highwood 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 Prospect Heights.
The story so far
Prospect Heights, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Prospect Heights yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Prospect Heights is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 16,058.
Its first post office opened in 1941. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 16,256 in 2010, 16,058 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
The Prospect Heights post office opened in 1941, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Prospect Heights rank for history?
Prospect Heights is more historic than 8% of U.S. towns, #733 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 Prospect Heights?
2% of Prospect Heights’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1976.
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 (12), 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.
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