Founding year: the first Walnut post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Walnut’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Walnut is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Walnut’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 Walnut’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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 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 Walnut’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1900Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Walnut, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Walnut yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Walnut is a village in Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,311 at the 2020 census, down from 1,416 at the 2010 census and 1,461 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. The village was incorporated on October 26, 1876.
Its first post office opened in 1856. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,416 to 1,311 (-7%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Walnut, 1877–1885
Passages that mention Walnut, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The voters and tax-payers of Bureau county, Illinois1877 · page 138Read the page →
Read the text
and from him the town received its first name. For many years before the completion of the railroad to this point, a post-office had been maintained at the grove, a short distance south of the village plat, known by the name of the grove, " Walnut." As the name of the village did not come into popular use, and as letters and packages continued to be sent to the old post-office — which, in fact, was never changed — in the year 1870, the village assumed this name, and as such was incorporated in 1872. Mr. Brewer still lives on his farm near the village. To the first
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The voters and tax-payers of Bureau county, Illinois1877 · page 87Read the page →
Read the text
northwest quarter of section thirty-three, Town of Bureau, and occupied at present by Thomas Vaughan. A few weeks afterwards, three young men, Edward, Justus and John L. Ament, built a cabin at the east end of Red Oak Grove, on section one. Town of Walnut, the farm now owned by W. Miles. In July of the same year Reason B. Hall built a cabin on the southeast quarter of section thirty-four. Town of Hall, where J.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bureau County, Illinois1885 · page 437Read the page →
Read the text
formed a partnership, opened a small store, which is now owned by James Byers and used for a furniture store. In 1845 there were but six families in the village of Walnut: Richard Brewer, E. Kelly, Edward Triplett, Truman Culver, Thomas Sanders, Greenbury Triplett and James Bartlett. January 29, 1871, the Clinton Branch of the Chicago,
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.
Timeline
Walnut, 1856 to 1949
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born 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.
Between 515 and 1,513 people in every census since 1880.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Walnut’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Walnut’s history
What year was Walnut founded?
The Walnut post office opened in 1856, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Walnut rank for history?
Walnut is more historic than 45% 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 Walnut?
25% of Walnut’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1961.
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 (2), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
Date?
