Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns · #102 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
44 places in town are on the National Register, among them 5 National Historic Landmarks and four historic districts with 32 buildings between them. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1840.
Springfield dates its founding to 1821 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 88% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Springfield is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #102 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Springfield ranks #82 on History.
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 Springfield’s 7.0 sits above most of its state (79% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 79 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% 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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 5 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Springfield’s post office has been open since 1828. Six 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Springfield’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Springfield.
Settlers originally named this community "Calhoun", after Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, expressing their cultural ties. The land that Springfield now occupies was visited first by trappers and fur traders who came to the Sangamon River in 1818.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Springfield, cut from the printed page as they were published.
It is not only a great but unexpected honor to address you today. I am very proud to be asked, and very happy to address the citizens of this city of Springfield, where the mind of the great man whose memory we delight to honor today, took its definite shape.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Four outstanding advantages which command attention point to the desirability of Springfield as a home and business center: Springfield has the lowest priced coal in the United States, due to the fact that it lies in the heart of Illinois' great coal fields, eliminating transportation costs. It has the lowest power and electric rates in the United
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.
BuiltOld State Capitol is built
Born hereRobert Todd Lincoln is born hereBuiltExecutive Mansion is built
In the archiveAbraham Lincoln Springfield departure February 1861
BuiltIllinois State Capitol is builtBuiltLincoln Tomb is built
Born hereVachel Lindsay is born here
Born hereSeth Barnes Nicholson is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyOne decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Springfield. 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 Springfield.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 2 of 15Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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 Springfield’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,579 and 116,250 people in every census since 1840.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Springfield’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.
In 1821, according to Wikidata. Springfield’s post office opened in 1822, and the census of 1840 counted 2,579 people here.
Springfield is more historic than 88% of U.S. towns, #102 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.
44 listings, 5 of them National Historic Landmarks: 37 buildings, 4 historic districts with 32 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 2 structures. 79 historic buildings in all.
18% of Springfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1972.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (44), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
1861
1865
