More historic than 7% of U.S. towns · #746 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Richton Park was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1930.
Founding year: the first Richton Park post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Richton Park’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Richton Park is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #746 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 Richton Park’s 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 Richton Park’s 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 (±0.9 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 Richton Park’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Richton Park sits along the Sauk Trail, a major trail used by the several Native American tribes for travel. By the 1840s German migrants settled in the area and created a small farming community.
The village was named after a Richton in Vermont, the native home of a first settler.
On the evening of June 7, 2008, an EF2 tornado went through portions of Richton Park, damaging homes and businesses.
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.
The Richton Park post office opened in 1928, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Richton Park rank for history?
Richton Park is more historic than 7% of U.S. towns, #746 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 Richton Park?
1% of Richton Park’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1978.
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 (8), 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.
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