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History · Ritchie

52% of Ritchie’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1918 on.

0on the National Register
52%homes built before 1940
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What stands out about Ritchie’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ritchie are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Ritchie’s homes were built before 1938.On the map since 19184 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1993. Watch Ritchie change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ritchie’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Ritchie, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ritchie yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ritchie is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) in southern Will County, Illinois, United States. It is located along Forked Creek and Illinois Route 102, three miles southeast of the city of Wilmington in Wesley Township. As of the 2020 census, Ritchie had a population of 190. Ritchie is home to several dozen houses, the Wesley Township hall, a church, a grain elevator, and the house of the founder of Ritchie. His house is located at the eastern entry into Ritchie along Illinois Route 102. A railroad track passing through the community was dismantled in the 1990s, but the bridge that carried it over Forked Creek and Route 102 remains. Ritchie was founded by the Lea…

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

On the map

Ritchie on the map, 1918 to 1993

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

Ritchie on the 1918 USGS mapRitchie on the 1953 USGS mapRitchie on the 1973 USGS mapRitchie on the 1993 USGS map1918Wilmington 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 Ritchie.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

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Famous people

Famous people close to Ritchie

Nobody well known was born in Ritchie itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

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K
KiiaraAmerican singer and songwriter · b. 1995
Tanner RoarkAmerican baseball pitcher · b. 1986
Doug PinnickAmerican bassist and singer · b. 1950
John Mitchell(1870-1919) American labor leader · b. 1870
Ruth Randall EdströmAmerican activist · b. 1867
George CutshawAmerican baseball player · b. 1887

Questions about Ritchie’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.