BlockBefore

Crete, Illinois

17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1930 and the latest in 1998. It stands in Crete Township. It lies in ZIP code area 60417. The Survey maps it on the Steger quadrangle. 8,465 people lived here at the 2020 count.

Crete within Will County

On record in Crete

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Crete grew from 8,259 to 8,465 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20108,259
20208,465+206 (+2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

9 surveys from 17 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

482 words on this township

The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Crete Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The village of Crete was laid out in 1849, by Willard Wood, who lived here, occupying the site since 1837. Mr. Wood built at the place now occupied by the Hewes House, at the last-named date, and kept the house as a hotel. As mentioned in the history of Washington Township, places for the accommodation of the traveling public sprang up all along this great highway, and among the number was the Wood Tavern. Of course it was not the commodious hotel that now occupies the corner, but a small log structure ; though the use of that corner, with numerous changes and additions, has always been devoted to that purpose. Until about the time of the laying-out of the town, the same log cabin was the hotel ; but, at the date named, it gave place to a more pretentious afiair. Wood then erected a building 26x36 feet, which he occupied until 1865. In 1873, the Hewes brothers, Daniel and B. F., came into possession, and built the main part of the house, and have occupied it ever since.

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

The post office was established at the Corners in 1836, and was named Crete; and from this the village, in 1849, and the township, in 1850, have derived their names. Crete is one of the most enterprising towns on the line of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. It is composed of men of ability and thrift, as indicated by buildings, both public and private, which are of a superior charac-

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

Next year James Darling built a blacksmith-shop, which was at once occupied by Samuel Rose. Darling removed to Kansas. Mr. Goodenow was first Postmaster, and still occupies the position. The village is situated on the southeast corner of Section 32, about four miles south of Crete. It is a fine location for a town, and but for the hard times which have intervened since its beginning, would doubtless by this time present a greatly improved appearance.

Passage source: The History of Will County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County ... a Directory of Its Real Estate Owners; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; General and Local Statistics ... History of Illinois ... History of the Northwest .., published 1878.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Crete Township.

Mines and quarries near this place

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Crete: 1 past producer. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Chicago Hghts City EngStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Will County

Storms near this place

39 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Crete in 39 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 18 thunderstorm wind, 15 hail, 2 flood, 2 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2008Thunderstorm WindCrete$2,000Trees and power lines were blown down.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindCrete-Roof damage was reported to the Balmoral Elementary School.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindCrete-Tree limbs and power lines were damaged.
March 2025Thunderstorm WindCrete-Tree damage was reported along Kings Rd north of Norfolk Rd.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindCrete-A large tree and power lines were blown down and blocking the road near Exchange St and Perry St in Crete. Additional tree and power line damage was reported near Selleck and Cass Streets.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindCrete-A personal weather station measured a wind gust to 72 mph.
June 2021Tornado (EF0)Crete-A tornado with peak winds of 70 mph touched down near Old Monee Road, west of South Sangamon Street. The tornado produced mainly sporadic tree damage along its path including through the southeast side of Crete. A rotted tree was uprooted along Merioneth Drive, which partially fell onto a house. The tornado continued northeast through the east side of Steger. A house on St. Andrews Drive suffered gutter damage due to falling tree limbs. The tornado lifted near Ronald Road, just west of Route 394.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindCrete-Trees and power lines were blown down.
June 2019Heavy RainCrete-Storm total rainfall of 4.78 inches was measured.
June 2019Heavy RainCrete-Storm total rainfall of 3.61 inches was measured.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCrete-A wind gust to 67 mph was measured.
June 2015FloodCrete-About two feet of standing water was reported on Highway 1 in Crete.
August 2015Thunderstorm WindCrete-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in Crete.
June 2013HailCrete-Golfball size hail was reported near Wayne Drive and Naoma Drive.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindCrete-A tree was blown down near Main Street and Exchange Street.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindCrete-Winds gusting to 76 mph were measured by a handheld anemometer on top of a two story building. A two foot diameter tree snapped off about 15 feet from the base of the tree. A large tree fell onto a powerline on the 1400 block of Douglas Lane. The tree caught on fire.
July 2009Thunderstorm WindCrete-Wind gusts were estimated to 60 mph with 4 to 5 inch diameter tree limbs blown down.
January 2008Flash FloodCrete-Local creeks overflowed onto roadways.
August 2008Thunderstorm WindCrete-A wind gust was measured to 65 mph.
March 2007Thunderstorm WindCrete-Tree limbs blown down.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindCrete-A six inch diameter tree was blown down.
August 2007FloodCrete-Four to six inches of water on Crete Monee Road near Route 1.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindCrete-Estimated wind gust to 65 mph.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindCrete-Trees were blown down with an estimated wind gust to 75 mph.
June 2005HailCrete-Penny size hail was reported near Monee and Western Roads.
May 2019HailCrete-no account filed
March 2017HailCrete-no account filed
June 2012HailCrete-no account filed
June 2012HailCrete-no account filed
May 2011HailCrete-no account filed
June 2010HailCrete-no account filed
July 2009HailCrete-no account filed
June 2008HailCrete-no account filed
October 2006HailCrete-no account filed
May 2004HailCrete-no account filed
April 2003HailCrete-no account filed
October 2001Thunderstorm WindCrete-no account filed
April 1996HailCrete-no account filed
May 1996HailCrete-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Will County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Faithorn1.7 miles16
Lincolnshire1.8 miles16
Goodenow3.7 miles17
Plum Valley4.2 miles16
Willowbrook5.1 miles16
Country Meadows5.2 miles17
Claus5.3 miles13
Monee6.1 miles17

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on CreteAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2575698The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 424541. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.