The Kankakee Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Kankakee (1832) and Byron (1841), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 4,739194 years
How historic is Kankakee Township?
C+
More historic than 43% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Kankakee Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Kankakee Township’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kankakee Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #410 of 593 in Indiana. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Kankakee Township’s overall grade.
Indiana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Indiana town has 7.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Kankakee Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of Indiana 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 C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.6 points). 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 Kankakee Township’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Kankakee Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Kankakee was an unincorporated community in LaPorte County, Indiana, in the United States. It took its name from the nearby Kankakee River. Never much more than a railroad whistle-stop, nothing remains of the Johnson Township settlement called Kankakee.
Its first post office opened in 1832. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,830 in 2010, 4,739 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
By decade
No old photos in the archives yet
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kankakee Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1958Springville sheet · 1:24,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Kankakee Township.
Famous people
Famous people close to Kankakee Township
Nobody well known was born in Kankakee Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
The Kankakee Township post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Kankakee Township rank for history?
Kankakee Township is more historic than 43% of U.S. towns, #410 of 593 in Indiana. 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 Kankakee Township?
7% of Kankakee Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.6 points), against a typical 14% for an Indiana town; the median home was built in 1990.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
