Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns · #291 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Skokie was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1959. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1899 on, and the census since 1900.
Skokie dates its founding to 1833 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1900.
More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Skokie is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #291 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 Skokie’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 5 listings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Skokie. 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 Skokie.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1960s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1906Skokie Country Club
1924Bill Tilden at July 1924 match in
1924Chicago Tribune Mon Jul 21 1924 Page 28
1950Untitled - Large Letters (NBY 5318)Document
1964CTA Skokie Swift, Skokie, IL in May 1964
1964CTA Skokie Swift, Skokie, IL in May 1964 01
1964CTA Skokie Swift, Skokie, IL in May 1964 03
1964CTA Skokie Swift, Skokie, IL in May 1964 exact locati…
196619660626 02 Chicago Transit Authority CTA L cars @ Cr…
196619660840 13 Chicago Transit Authority CTA Skokie Shop…
196619661222 05 Chicago Transit Authority CTA Skokie Swif…
196619661222 06 Chicago Transit Authority CTA Skokie Swif…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 SurveyIn the archiveSkokie Country Club
BuiltForest, The, and Annex is builtIn the archiveBill Tilden at July 1924 match inIn the archiveUntitled - Large Letters (NBY 5318)In the archiveCTA Skokie Swift, Skokie, IL in May 1964
Born hereJonathan Kite is born here
Born hereJessy Schram is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Skokie.
In 1888, the community was incorporated as Niles Centre. About 1910, the spelling was Americanized to "Niles Center". However, the name caused postal confusion with the neighboring village of Niles. A village-renaming campaign began in the 1930s. In a referendum on November 15, 1940, residents chose the Native American name "Skokie" over the name "Devonshire".
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Skokie’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 529 and 68,322 people in every census since 1900.
13 censuses, 1900–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Skokie’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Skokie’s post office has been open since 1940. Another post office, Niles Center, 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).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1833, according to Wikidata. Skokie’s post office opened in 1895, and the census of 1900 counted 529 people here.
Skokie is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns, #291 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Harrer Building (listed 1983, the first).
6% of Skokie’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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) 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.
