Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1877.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Stillman Valley’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Stillman Valley is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Stillman Valley’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 Stillman Valley’s 7.9 sits above most of its state (80% 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 B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.9 points). Two sources give 1875.
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 →
What stands out about Stillman Valley’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Stillman Valley was founded by European-American settlers in north central Illinois in 1876. A creek running through the community was named after Major Stillman of the Illinois Militia who on May 14, 1832, led troops in what became the first named battle of the Black Hawk War. The battle and the creek were called "Stillman's Run" after Stillman and his men fled the battlefield in the belief that they had been attacked by a superior force of Chief Black Hawk's warriors. The day after the battle, Abraham Lincoln was with the militia who buried the dead soldiers from the battle. The village was named after Stillman Creek; the valley serves as the watershed for the creek, hence the name Stillman Valley.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Stillman Valley. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1917Kings 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 Stillman Valley.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewCGW non-agency 'station' at Stillman Valley, IL on Chicago District on April 6, 1963, 1963
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Stillman Valley’s page.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Stillman Valley, census by census
Between 92 and 1,120 people in every census since 1880.
12 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Stillman Valley’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Stillman Valley’s history
What year was Stillman Valley founded?
In 1875, according to Wikidata. Stillman Valley’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1880 counted 92 people here.
How does Stillman Valley rank for history?
Stillman Valley is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. 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 Stillman Valley?
One place: the Stillman's Run Battle Site (listed 1983).
How old are the homes in Stillman Valley?
19% of Stillman Valley’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1970.
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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
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