West Chicago dates to 1873, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns · #394 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listings are the McAuley School District No. 27 and the Turner Town Hall. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1850.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives West Chicago’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, West Chicago is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #394 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of West Chicago’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 West Chicago’s 0.8 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±2.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1873.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 West Chicago’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Erastus Gary, of Pomfret, Connecticut, homesteaded 760 acres (310 ha) on the banks of the DuPage River, just south of West Chicago's present day city limits in the 1830s. His son became "Judge" Elbert Henry Gary, the first CEO of America's first billion-dollar corporation, U.S. Steel, and for whom Gary, Indiana, is named. Gary also helped bring brothers Jesse and Warren Wheaton, founders of nearby Wheaton, Illinois, the DuPage County seat, from Connecticut to the Midwest. A pioneer cemetery on the old Gary Homestead, where a sawmill had been built by the Garys, just north of Gary's Mill Road, and north of its terminus at Illinois Route 59, was built over with apartment buildings in the 1960s.
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.
In 1873, according to Wikidata. West Chicago’s post office opened in 1850, and the census of 1880 counted 1,001 people here.
How does West Chicago rank for history?
West Chicago is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns, #394 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.
What is on the National Register in West Chicago?
Two places: the McAuley School District No. 27 (listed 1982) and the Turner Town Hall (1991).
How old are the homes in West Chicago?
12% of West Chicago’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.6 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (15), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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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