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History · Waukegan Township

Waukegan Township’s post office opened in 1849, and 21% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1860.

1849first post office
6on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Waukegan Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Waukegan Township began

When was Waukegan Township founded?

1849

The Waukegan Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1859.

First census: 3,433 in 18602020 census: 90,386177 years
Founding year: the first Waukegan Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1859.The full story ↓

What stands out about Waukegan Township’s past

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

Landmarks on the Register6 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Waukegan Township.Old housesHalf of Waukegan Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 listings protect 171 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
171
each building in a district counts

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

Timeline

Waukegan Township, 1860 to 1908

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860In the archiveWaukegan, IL; North School Circa 1860
  3. 1892In the archiveTrademark Washburn & Moen
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1908In the archiveBird's eye view of Waukegan, Ill., from Lawrence Captive Airship at 1000 ft. altitude. Pu…
The story

How Waukegan Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Waukegan Township.

Read it all →

The site of present-day Waukegan was recorded as Rivière du Vieux Fort ("Old Fort River") and Wakaygagh on a 1778 map by Thomas Hutchins. By the 1820s, the French name had become "Small Fort River" in English, and the settlement was known as "Little Fort". The name "Waukegance" and then "Waukegan" (meaning "little fort"; cf. Potawatomi wakaigin "fort" or "fortress") was created by John H. Kinzie and Solomon Juneau, and the new name was adopted on March 31, 1849.

ChaptersFounding and 19th century20th century21st century

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Waukegan Township, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s–1900s5 items
Waukegan, IL; North School Circa 18601860Waukegan, IL; North School Circa 1860Mr. C.L. Smith, Waukegan, Ill.Alternate Title: Man with six beagles and a rifle in his handc. 1865Mr. C.L. Smith, Waukegan, Ill.Alternate Title: Man wi…Mr. C.L. Smith, Waukegan, Ill.Alternate Title: Man with six beagles and a rifle in his handc. 1865Mr. C.L. Smith, Waukegan, Ill.Alternate Title: Man wi…Trademark Washburn & Moen1892Trademark Washburn & MoenBird's eye view of Waukegan, Ill., from Lawrence Captive Airship at 1000 ft. altitude. Published exclusively for W[...]…c. 1908Bird's eye view of Waukegan, Ill., from Lawrence Capt…
1910s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
On the map

Waukegan Township on the map, 1906 to 1960

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

Waukegan Township on the 1906 USGS mapWaukegan Township on the 1960 USGS map1906Waukegan 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 Waukegan 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.

Waukegan, IL; North School Circa 1860
Retake this viewWaukegan, IL; North School Circa 1860, 1860

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Waukegan Township, census by census

020,00040,00060,00080,000100,000190019502000Peak: 89,426

Between 3,433 and 89,426 people in every census since 1860.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Blanchard Schoolschool

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Waukegan Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWaukegan, IL; North School Circa 1860: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Waukegan6 historic placesAWarren Township1 historic placeCNorth Chicago3 historic placesB+Shields Township25 historic placesABenton Township1 historic placeC+Park CityIts storyD−GurneeIts storyC−Beach ParkIts storyC−

Questions about Waukegan Township’s history

What year was Waukegan Township founded?

The Waukegan Township post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1859.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (5), Wikidata (1), Wikipedia, 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.