Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Wheeling Township

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
BHistory
History · Wheeling Township

Wheeling Township’s post office opened in 1837, and 2 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns · #352 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Wheeling Township was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1890.

1837first post office
2on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: bogdanstepniak · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Wheeling Township began

When was Wheeling Township founded?

1837

The Wheeling Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1894.

First census: 811 in 18902020 census: 157,487189 years

How historic is Wheeling Township?

B

More historic than 57% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Wheeling Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Wheeling Township’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wheeling Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #352 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wheeling Township’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 19403.5% of homes (±0.6) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%C−National Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 0.2 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 57%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 54%

Among the 400 U.S. cities of 100,000 or more, Wheeling Township ranks #220 on History.

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 Wheeling Township’s 0.2 sits near the middle of its state (58% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

Newer cities are common at Wheeling Township’s size: in the typical U.S. city of 100,000 or more, 5% of homes predate 1940.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±0.6 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1894.

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 Wheeling Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Wheeling Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1910, then grew more than tenfold.On the map since 19007 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1993. Watch Wheeling Township change.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Wheeling Township.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wheeling Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wheeling Township’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Wheeling Township, census by census

05,00010,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,0001900192019401960198020002020811 in 1890Low: 260

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1890 and 1910, then grew more than tenfold.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

On the map

Wheeling Township on the map, 1900 to 1993

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

Wheeling Township on the 1900 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1927 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1953 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1963 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1972 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1980 USGS mapWheeling Township on the 1993 USGS map1900Highwood 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 Wheeling Township.

The story

How Wheeling Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wheeling Township.

Read it all →

The land that is now Wheeling, Illinois, was controlled by the Miami Confederacy (which contained the Illini and Kickapoo tribes) starting in the early 1680s. The Confederacy was driven from the area by the Iroquois and Meskwaki in the early 1700s. The French-allied Potawatomi began to raid and take possession of Northern Illinois in the 1700s. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Potawatomi expanded southwards from their territory in Green Bay and westward from their holdings in Detroit, until they controlled in an L-shaped swath of territory from Green Bay to the Illinois River, and from the Mississippi River to the Maumee River. The descendants of the Potawatomi who once inhabited the land that is now Wheeling currently live on a reservation in Mayette, Kansas.

ChaptersPrior to incorporationIncorporation and post-incorporation

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Wheeling Township, decade by decade

Today8 recent
Wheeling Town Hall 1-30-252025Wheeling Town Hall 1-30-25Main Library After 2017 Renovation2018Main Library After 2017 RenovationWheeling, United States (Unsplash)2016Wheeling, United States (Unsplash)Julie Morrison2014Julie MorrisonBrad Schneider and Julie Morrison2014Brad Schneider and Julie MorrisonWheeling, IL, USA2013Wheeling, IL, USADes Plaines River Trail2009Des Plaines River TrailNumeridex Warehouse at headquarters in2005Numeridex Warehouse at headquarters in
On the National Register

2 historic places in Wheeling Township

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Forest RiverForest View Estates
Gone or out of use
Strong Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Wheeling Township
Randhill ParkShalom Memorial Park

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.

Northfield Township2 historic placesC+Palatine Township2 historic placesCVernon Township3 historic placesBArlington Heights3 historic placesC+WheelingIts storyC+Palatine2 historic placesCRolling MeadowsIts storyD−Des Plaines2 historic placesA−Glenview2 historic placesC+

Questions about Wheeling Township’s history

What year was Wheeling Township founded?

The Wheeling Township post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.

How does Wheeling Township rank for history?

Wheeling Township is more historic than 57% of U.S. towns, #352 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.

How old are the homes in Wheeling Township?

4% of Wheeling Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (8), 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.