Roscoe Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #418 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Chicago & North Western Railway Stone Arch Bridge. Most of Roscoe Township was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Below: maps from 1918 on and the census since 1970.
Founding year: the first Roscoe Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Roscoe Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Roscoe Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #418 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Roscoe Township’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 Roscoe Township’s 0.5 sits near the middle of its state (60% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. 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 Roscoe Township’s 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 Roscoe Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1918Belvidere 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 Roscoe Township.
Though settled in the 1830s, Roscoe was incorporated as a village in 1965. The village was named after Roscoe Township. Harlem-Roscoe Fire Department Station Three, located at 13974 Willowbrook Rd, was hit by an EF-1 tornado on May 22, 2011. Path length was 1 mile long and 50 yards wide, no injuries were reported. In 1837, the village of Highlander was renamed Roscoe, highlighting a rocky river ford across the Rock River in the village. In the same year, Roscoe established its first post office, with Daniel Shaw Haight as the first postmaster. In 1840, the first weekly newspaper began circulation. In 1847, Roscoe Female Seminary – today Rockford University – was founded. On January 3, 1852, Roscoe was officially chartered as a city; a year later the long-running "Forest City" nickname first appeared, used by the New York Tribune. Also in 1852, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad co…
The Roscoe Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Roscoe Township rank for history?
Roscoe Township is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #418 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.
What is on the National Register in Roscoe Township?
One place: the Chicago & North Western Railway Stone Arch Bridge (listed 1993).
How old are the homes in Roscoe Township?
1% of Roscoe Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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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