History · Thornton

Thornton’s post office opened in 1837, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1860.

1837first post office

0on the National Register

20%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Thornton’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Thornton began

When was Thornton founded?

1837

The Thornton post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Thornton Station (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,033 in 18602020 census: 2,386189 years

How historic is Thornton?

More historic than 62% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓

Founding year: the first Thornton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

History grade

What drives Thornton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Thornton is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Thornton’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 194019.5% of homes (±6.5) · 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 62%

NewerOlder

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’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 (±6.5 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 Thornton’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 change.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Thornton.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Thornton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Thornton’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.+2 Retake an old viewMcAvoy Brewing Company: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Thornton, census by census

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’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Thornton on the map, 1892 to 1991

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

1892Calumet 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.

The story so far

Thornton, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Thornton 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 grew from 2,338 to 2,386 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Thornton, 1837 to 1970

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

19th century
1837Post officeThe Thornton post office opens
1853Post officeThe Thornton Station post office opens
1869Post officeThe Thornton Station post office closes
1892On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
20th century
1970CensusPopulation peaks at 3,714

By decade

Thornton, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date

Date?McAvoy Brewing Company

Today4 recent

2017Thornton Quarry

2012Thornton, Illinois

2012Thornton Quarry2

2005Thornton 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.

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’s page.

Retake this view · +15

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Thornton’s post office has been open since 1837. Another post office, Thornton Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Thornton

1837–today

Thornton Station

1853–1869

18301930today

Gone or out of use

Parkside SchoolschoolThornton Quarrymine

1cemetery inside Thornton

Washington Memory Gardens

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.

South HollandIts storyC⁺Homewood1 historic placeB⁻Thornton Township1 historic placeB⁺Bloom Township3 historic placesC⁺GlenwoodIts storyC⁻

Questions about Thornton’s history

What year was Thornton founded?

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

How does Thornton rank for history?

Thornton 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.

How old are the homes in Thornton?

20% of Thornton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 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 (5), 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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