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C+History
History · Winthrop Harbor

Winthrop Harbor’s post office opened in 1894, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns · #505 of 768 in Illinois. What drives it

Most of Winthrop Harbor was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Henry I. Paddock House. Its Register listing is the Henry I. Paddock House. Below: maps from 1906 on and the census since 1910.

1894first post office
1on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Winthrop Harbor began

When was Winthrop Harbor founded?

1894

The Winthrop Harbor post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Spring Bluff (1871), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 439 in 19102020 census: 6,705132 years

How historic is Winthrop Harbor?

C+

More historic than 35% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Winthrop Harbor post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Winthrop Harbor’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Winthrop Harbor is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #505 of 768 in Illinois. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Winthrop Harbor’s overall grade.
Founding era1894, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19404.1% of homes (±2.0) · typical IL town 10.6% · U.S. 8.4%CNational Register1 listing, 1.5 per 10,000 residents · typical IL town 0.5 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 35%
NewerOlder
Illinois towns of 2,500+ (768)Ahead of 34%

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 Winthrop Harbor’s 1.5 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Illinois towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to C+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

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 Winthrop Harbor’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 Winthrop Harbor are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19065 editions of the USGS map, 1906 to 1993. Watch Winthrop Harbor change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Winthrop Harbor’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Winthrop Harbor’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
On the map

Winthrop Harbor on the map, 1906 to 1993

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

Winthrop Harbor on the 1906 USGS mapWinthrop Harbor on the 1960 USGS mapWinthrop Harbor on the 1972 USGS mapWinthrop Harbor on the 1980 USGS mapWinthrop Harbor on the 1993 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 Winthrop Harbor.

The story

How Winthrop Harbor came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Winthrop Harbor.

Read it all →

In 1860 the Henry I. Paddock House was completed. It is the oldest surviving structure in the village. In 1871 a post office was built on what would become IL 137 named Spring Bluff. Not only did this spur an increase in population in the area, but it would inspire the name of the Spring Bluff Forest Preserve. Of which the state began purchasing land for in 1963.

J. H. Van Vlissingen originally intended on developing the area in 1883, however nothing came of it. In 1899 the Winthrop Harbor and Dock Company purchased over 2,000 acres just south of the state line of Wisconsin. Winthrop Harbor was incorporated as a village in 1901.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Winthrop Harbor, 1860 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1860BuiltHenry I. Paddock House is built
  3. 1871Post officeThe Spring Bluff post office opens
  4. 1894Post officeThe Spring Bluff post office closes
  5. 1894Post officeThe Winthrop Harbor post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1958Born hereSheri Jesiel is born here
By decade

Winthrop Harbor, decade by decade

Today17 recent
Russell Rd west - Illinois-Wisconsin line - June 20252025Russell Rd west - Illinois-Wisconsin line - June 2025Russell Rd east - Illinois-Wisconsin line - June 20252025Russell Rd east - Illinois-Wisconsin line - June 2025McClory Bike Path - Winthrop Harbor, IL - June 20252025McClory Bike Path - Winthrop Harbor, IL - June 2025Adopt-A-Path sign at McClory Bike Path - Winthrop Harbor, IL - June 20252025Adopt-A-Path sign at McClory Bike Path - Winthrop Har…Winthrop Harbor station - January 20192019Winthrop Harbor station - January 2019Winthrop Harbor2014Winthrop HarborWinthrop Harbor2014Winthrop HarborWinthrop Harbor2014Winthrop HarborWinthrop Harbor2014Winthrop HarborWinthrop Harbor2014Winthrop HarborSetophaga aestiva2013Setophaga aestivaSetophaga aestiva2013Setophaga aestivaNorthpoit marina2011Northpoit marinaNorthpoint marina, rocky cove2011Northpoint marina, rocky coveMarina for web2011Marina for webpanoramio (4367)2011panoramio (4367)panoramio (4364)2011panoramio (4364)
On the National Register

1 historic place in Winthrop Harbor

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2001
Henry I. Paddock House
Henry I. Paddock House, built 1860
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Italianate1
Queen Anne1
Henry I. Paddock HouseItalianate · Built 1860

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

People over time

Winthrop Harbor, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,0006,5007,0007,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 6,742

Between 439 and 6,742 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Winthrop Harbor’s post office has been open since 1894. Another post office, Spring Bluff, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Spring Bluff
1871–1894
Winthrop Harbor
1894–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Winthrop Harbor Station
Gone or out of use
State Line Stationlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). 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.

Benton Township1 historic placeC+Zion3 historic placesB−Zion Township3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Winthrop Harbor’s history

What year was Winthrop Harbor founded?

The Winthrop Harbor post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Winthrop Harbor rank for history?

Winthrop Harbor is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns, #505 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 Winthrop Harbor?

One place: the Henry I. Paddock House (listed 2001).

How old are the homes in Winthrop Harbor?

4% of Winthrop Harbor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 11% for an Illinois town; the median home was built in 1981.

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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.