The Waterman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Waterman Station (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 1,433143 years
How historic is Waterman?
C+
More historic than 41% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Waterman post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Waterman’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Waterman is more historic than 41% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Waterman’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 Waterman’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 (±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 Waterman’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Waterman yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Waterman is a village in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,433 at the 2020 census. The village is known for the DeKalb Ag seed corn processing plant, now owned by the German company, Bayer. The "Waterman and Western" train line that operated in Lion's Club Park was a 1/3 scale train line with a 1/2 mile train line circling the park and was a hobby of a local resident before it was destroyed by a fire in 2021.
Its first post office opened in 1883. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,506 to 1,433 (-5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Waterman in 1885
Passages that mention Waterman, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois1885 · page 808Read the page →
Read the text
;HE school district of which the village of Waterman forms a part was organized about 1856. The first school remembered by those consulted was in that year, Miss Reynolds being the teacher. The school was held in a small frame building that had been used as a dwelling. The first school-house was erected in 1858, Tilda Kirkpatrick first occupying it as teacher.
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
Waterman, 1871 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Waterman’s post office has been open since 1883. Another post office, Waterman Station, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Waterman Station
1871–1883
Waterman
1883–today
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Waterman’s history
What year was Waterman founded?
The Waterman post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Waterman rank for history?
Waterman is more historic than 41% 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 Waterman?
20% of Waterman’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 1970.
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 Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
