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BHistory
History · Summit

Summit’s post office opened in 1841, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns · #305 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1880.

1841first post office
0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
9old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Summit’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Summit began

When was Summit founded?

1841

The Summit post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1890.

First census: 272 in 18802020 census: 11,161185 years

How historic is Summit?

B

More historic than 63% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Summit post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1890.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Summit’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Summit is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #305 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Summit’s overall grade.
Founding era1841, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194020.8% of homes (±6.3) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical IL town 0.5 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 63%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 60%

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 Summit’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.

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 (±6.3 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1890.

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 Summit’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18918 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1993. Watch Summit change.Deep rootsA post office since 1841: 185 years of Summit.Old housesHalf of Summit’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · On the map

Summit on the map, 1891 to 1993

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Summit. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Summit on the 1891 USGS mapSummit on the 1900 USGS mapSummit on the 1928 USGS mapSummit on the 1953 USGS mapSummit on the 1963 USGS mapSummit on the 1972 USGS mapSummit on the 1980 USGS mapSummit on the 1993 USGS map1891Riverside 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 Summit.

Timeline

Summit, 1841 to 1978

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1841Post officeThe Summit post office opens
  3. 1891On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 20th century
  5. 1900In the archiveFishermen at Summit, Ill's
  6. 1909Post officeThe Argo post office opens
  7. 1917Born hereClayton Lambert is born here
  8. 1924Born hereTed Kluszewski is born here
  9. 1930In the archiveMarquette Boulder Monument
  10. 1930Post officeThe Summit post office closes
  11. 1960In the archiveGeorge M. Moffett Research Laboratories, Technical Division, Argo, Illinois (NBY 429044)
  12. 1978In the archiveMilwaukee Road freight at Argo, Illinois, March 1978
The story

How Summit came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Summit.

Read it all →

The area around Summit has been hunted and traveled through for 12,000 years but only continuously occupied since 900 CE. When Europeans first arrived the area was inhabited or used by the Meskwaki, Illini, Miami, Sauk, and Chippewa-Ottawa-Potawatomi tribes.

In 1673, the Marquette-Joliet expedition arrived at the portage north of the city and went on to the location of Chicago. At that time the importance of a portage was noted. A local trading network developed from that time until the Native Americans were removed beginning in 1816.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Summit in 1884

Passages that mention Summit, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The railroad company arc considering the question of erecting a large and elegant depot at Summit, and the running of fast suburban trains may develop the town into a locality for suburban residences. It Is questionable whether anything else will materially augment the population in a short space o…
History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 816Read the page →
Read the text

The railroad company arc considering the question of erecting a large and elegant depot at Summit, and the running of fast suburban trains may develop the town into a locality for suburban residences. It Is questionable whether anything else will materially augment the population in a short space of time.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In the old frame school-house devotional exercises are held on Sunday, a Union meeting being presided over by Mr. North, of Riverside, and German services conducted by Mr. Borland, of Summit. The Catholics have a fine church on the Joliet road, attended by the inhabitants of Lyons, Summit, and the …
History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 815Read the page →
Read the text

In the old frame school-house devotional exercises are held on Sunday, a Union meeting being presided over by Mr. North, of Riverside, and German services conducted by Mr. Borland, of Summit. The Catholics have a fine church on the Joliet road, attended by the inhabitants of Lyons, Summit, and the surrounding country, the congregation comprising about one hundred families. Father A. Venturi ministers unto the

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.

By decade

Summit, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1970s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1960s8 items
Fishermen at Summit, Ill's1900Fishermen at Summit, Ill'sTrack and signal at Summit, Ill's1900Track and signal at Summit, Ill'sMarquette Boulder Monument1930Marquette Boulder MonumentGeorge M. Moffett Research Laboratories, Technical Division, Argo, Illinois (NBY 429044)1960George M. Moffett Research Laboratories, Technical Di…19670904 08 BRC 500 McCook, IL196719670904 08 BRC 500 McCook, IL19680421 15 Century Charter Coach196819680421 15 Century Charter Coach19680421 16 Century Charter Coach196819680421 16 Century Charter Coach19680421 17 Century Charter Coach196819680421 17 Century Charter Coach
1970s1 item
Milwaukee Road freight at Argo, Illinois, March 19781978Milwaukee Road freight at Argo, Illinois, March 1978
1980s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
I-55 south at IL 171 overpass - Summit, IL - August 20242024I-55 south at IL 171 overpass - Summit, IL - August 2…I-55 south at IL 171 exit - Summit, IL - August 20242024I-55 south at IL 171 exit - Summit, IL - August 2024I-55 south at IL 171 distributor lanes - Summit, IL - August 20242024I-55 south at IL 171 distributor lanes - Summit, IL -…20150725 22 IHB @ Argo201520150725 22 IHB @ ArgoParker-Okafor opening jump ball at IHSA sectional championship2013Parker-Okafor opening jump ball at IHSA sectional cha…Cement silo2009Cement silo59th street tank farm200959th street tank farm
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.

Fishermen at Summit, Ill's
Retake this viewFishermen at Summit, Ill's, 1900

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Summit’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Summit, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 11,569

Between 272 and 11,569 people in every census since 1880.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Summit’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Summit

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Ted KluszewskiAmerican baseball player and coach · b. 1924
C
Clayton LambertAmerican baseball player · b. 1917
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Summit had its own post office from 1841 to 1930.

Summit
1841–1930
Argo
1909–today
18401930today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Summit’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFishermen at Summit, Ill's: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bedford ParkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMcCookIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLyons Township10 historic placesAChicago407 historic placesA+Lyons2 historic placesAStickney TownshipIts storyC−Forest ViewIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Summit’s history

What year was Summit founded?

The Summit post office opened in 1841, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1890.

How does Summit rank for history?

Summit is more historic than 63% of U.S. towns, #305 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.

How old are the homes in Summit?

21% of Summit’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.3 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1959.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (13), the Library of Congress (3), 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.