Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns · #395 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Union Church. Most of Whitmore Township was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1971. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 50% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Whitmore Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #395 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Whitmore Township’s 2.4 sits above most of its state (68% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitmore Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Whitmore Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Whitmore Township is located in Macon County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 4,311 and it contained 1,894 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 4,471 to 4,311 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Whitmore Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whitmore Township.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Between 4,311 and 4,474 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Whitmore Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Whitmore Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Whitmore Township is more historic than 50% of U.S. towns, #395 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.
One place: the Union Church (listed 1999).
8% of Whitmore Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1971.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2022
2014
