Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns · #687 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Schaumburg was built recently: 0.9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1979. Below: maps from 1923 on and the census since 1960.
The Schaumburg post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Shaumburgh (1848) and Schaumberg (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
More historic than 15% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Schaumburg is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #687 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Schaumburg’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Schaumburg’s history is told.
Schaumburg had its own post office from 1888 to 1892. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Schaumburg. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Schaumburg.
From Wikipedia’s history of Schaumburg.
Prior to European settlement, the region was inhabited by the Sauk, Meskwaki, Potawatomi, and Kickapoo peoples. During the mid-19th century, settlers began arriving from Germany and the eastern United States. Many of the Germans came from Hessian Schaumburg and Schaumburg-Lippe, a region within the modern state of Lower Saxony.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Schaumburg, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The township of Schaumburg was organized in the spring of 1850, before which time it formed a part of what was formerly known as Salt Creek Precinct.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
Born hereSusan Downey is born here
Born hereJessica Lu is born here
2012Chicago - panoramio (71)
2012Arts and crafts show
2011IC Bus CE sideview
2010Sheffield Towne - panoramio (3)
2010Sheffield Towne - panoramio (2)
2010Rocking Elf
2009Watch your speed
2008Sheffield Towne
2008Sheffield Towne - panoramio (1)
2008Sheffield Town
2008Hotel Lobby Chair
2007Schaumburg, IL, USA - panoramio (112)
2007Schaumburg, IL, USA - panoramio (111)
2007Schaumburg, IL, USA - panoramio (110)
2006Schaumburgsummer2003
2006Schaumburg, Illinois - Northwest Tollway (I-90)
2006Elgin O'Hare shields
2005Interstate290-schaumburgGrew from 986 people in 1960 to 78,723 in 2020, more than tenfold.
7 censuses, 1960–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Schaumburg’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Schaumburg post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Schaumburg is more historic than 15% of U.S. towns, #687 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.
0.9% of Schaumburg’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1979.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
