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B+History
History · Thornton Township

Thornton Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #228 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.

1837first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Thornton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Thornton Township began

When was Thornton Township founded?

1837

The Thornton Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 1,033 in 18602020 census: 157,865189 years

How historic is Thornton Township?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Thornton Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade

What drives Thornton Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thornton Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #228 of 768 in Illinois. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thornton Township’s overall grade.
Founding era1837, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194012.4% of homes (±1.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 5 historic buildings, 0.3 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 70%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Thornton Township ranks #149 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 Thornton Township’s 0.3 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% 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 (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. 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 Thornton Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 7-fold.On the map since 18928 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1991. Watch Thornton Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Thornton Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thornton Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thornton Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMcAvoy Brewing Company: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Thornton Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0001900195020001,033 in 1860Low: 301

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1860 and 1870, then grew 7-fold.

14 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

On the map

Thornton Township on the map, 1892 to 1991

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

Thornton Township on the 1892 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1900 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1929 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1953 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1960 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1973 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1980 USGS mapThornton Township on the 1991 USGS map1892Calumet 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 Thornton Township.

The story so far

Thornton Township, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Thornton Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Thornton is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a south suburb of Chicago. The population was 2,386 at the 2020 census. Thornton is home to the Thornton Quarry, one of the largest quarries in the world.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 169,326 to 157,865 (-7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Thornton Township, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
McAvoy Brewing CompanyDate?McAvoy Brewing Company
Today4 recent
Thornton Quarry2017Thornton QuarryThornton, Illinois2012Thornton, IllinoisThornton Quarry22012Thornton Quarry2Thornton Quarry2005Thornton Quarry
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.

McAvoy Brewing Company
Retake this viewMcAvoy Brewing Company

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 5 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
5
each building in a district counts

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Bremen Township2 historic placesC+Chicago407 historic placesA+BurnhamIts storyC−Bloom Township3 historic placesC+Calumet Township2 historic placesAThorntonIts storyBRiverdale1 historic placeB+Lansing1 historic placeC+

Questions about Thornton Township’s history

What year was Thornton Township founded?

The Thornton Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Thornton Township rank for history?

Thornton Township is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #228 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 Thornton Township?

12% of Thornton Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1964.

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 (5), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.