More historic than 36% of U.S. towns · #502 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Most of Wheeling was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Wheeling post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1894.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Wheeling’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wheeling is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #502 of 768 in Illinois. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wheeling’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 Wheeling’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 D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.4 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’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
Passages that mention Wheeling, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 501Read the page →
Read the text
about 1874 was named Duuton after him. The lirst plat appears to have been made November 3, 1854, under the direction of the Commissioners of Highways for the town of Wheeling. Three highways ran parallel with each other north and south through this subdivision, live chains apart, and the lirst live chains east of the northwest corner of the west half of the southwest quarter of Section 29, and each running
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Cook County, Illinois. From the earliest period to the present time1884 · page 499Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Wheeling lies in (ne north part of Cook County, and is bounded on the north by Like County, on the east by N'nrt.htield, on the south bv .Maine and Elk Grove, and on the west, bv Palatine.
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
Wheeling, 1837 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Wheeling post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1894.
How does Wheeling rank for history?
Wheeling is more historic than 36% of U.S. towns, #502 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?
3% of Wheeling’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.4 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 (8), 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), 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.
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