From Sycamore Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Sycamore Township began
When was Sycamore Township founded?
1840
The Sycamore Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Charter Grove (1889), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 338 in 18502020 census: 14,702186 years
How historic is Sycamore Township?
A
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Sycamore Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Sycamore Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sycamore Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #72 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.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sycamore Township’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 Sycamore Township’s 129 sits above most of its state (95% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 191 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
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 Sycamore Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first European settlers to the Sycamore-area arrived in 1835 and concentrated themselves mostly north of the Kishwaukee River (the name of which means sycamore) and the present site of Sycamore. The original town was platted by a New Yorker named Christian Sharer. A mill was constructed and the Kishwaukee dammed but the town failed. By 1837, after some controversy, the location of county seat was settled in favor of Orange, Sycamore's original name, and the settlement moved to the present-day site of the city.
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.
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 Sycamore Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1938Genoa 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 Sycamore Township.
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 viewIllinois - Starved Rock through Trenton, 1917
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Sycamore Township’s page.
Grew from 338 people in 1850 to 18,577 in 2020, more than tenfold.
18 censuses, 1850–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Sycamore Township’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Another post office, Charter Grove, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Charter GroveEvergreen Village Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Base Line SchoolschoolCharter Grove SchoolschoolMount Hunger SchoolschoolNelson SchoolschoolNorth Grove SchoolschoolParke SchoolschoolPerson SchoolschoolWillis Airportairport
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sycamore Township
BarronCharter Grove
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Sycamore Township post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Sycamore Township rank for history?
Sycamore Township is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #72 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.
What is on the National Register in Sycamore Township?
6 listings: 1 building, among them the North Grove School (listed 2012, the first). 191 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Sycamore Township?
17% of Sycamore Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1992.
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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