Dolton, Illinois: Named for the Family of the Dolton Bridge

A ferry, a bridge and a family name

The Doltons got there early. A. T. Andreas’s History of Cook County, published in 1884, says that in 1835 George Dolton moved his family to the Little Calumet region and settled on the river, at the spot that later became Riverdale. A biography of his son Charles in the same book tells the trip in more detail: the family left Columbus, Ohio, and reached Chicago on October 6, 1835, “on a wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen.” That biography puts the move to the river on March 7, 1838, so the book gives you two dates for the same arrival.

The family’s name ended up on the river crossing. The first ferry was started in 1836 by George Dolton and J. C. Matthews, Andreas writes, on the road between Chicago and Michigan City that’s now State Street. In February 1841 the Illinois legislature authorized George Dolton to build a toll bridge across the Calumet on his own quarter section, according to Weston Goodspeed and Daniel Healy’s 1909 History of Cook County. The bridge went up around 1842, built by Dolton and Levi Osterhoudt, and “was known as the Dolton bridge.” It charged a toll until 1856, when the county bought it and made it free.

One settlement called Dolton

For a while, the two sides of the story were one place. Andreas passes along what Andrew H. Dolton, one of George’s sons, had to say about it: “Riverdale and Dolton were one settlement, with the name Dolton, until the establishment of the post-office at Riverdale with that name.” The Riverdale post office opened in April 1873. Goodspeed and Healy say it more plainly. In early times the place “was called Dolton rather than Riverdale, in honor of Mr. Dolton.” Part of it was also known as Dolton Junction.

You can see the pair on the map at the top of this page. On the U.S. Geological Survey’s 1892 sheet, Riverdale’s streets straddle the Calumet and Dolton’s little grid sits just south of them, with railroad lines running through both.

A village plat for the Dolton brothers

The village you can visit today grew up just to the south, on land the next generation settled. Andrew H. Dolton was the first settler there, in 1846, and his brothers married and moved down from the family homestead on the Calumet a few years later. The village plat was made “for the Dolton brothers” by Alexander Wolcott on March 5, 1868, Andreas says, and George E. Dolton platted another piece for the family on March 7, 1870, which brought the village to 60 acres (about 24 hectares).

The brothers also turn up all over the town’s early records. Andrew was the first postmaster of the Dolton Station post office, which Andreas dates to 1869 and Goodspeed and Healy to 1870. He was also the first supervisor of Thornton Township, and three of the brothers, Andrew, Henry and Charles, gave the land for the Methodist church built in 1882.

The pope’s hometown

Dolton has a newer claim to fame. The Vatican’s official biography says Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, to parents who were both Chicago natives and “later settled in Dolton.” He was elected pope on May 8, 2025, and took the name Leo XIV.

The house where he grew up, at 212 East 141st Place, is now village property. ABC7 Chicago reported in December 2025 that Dolton had declared it a historic landmark, and that the Prevost family lived there until 1969, according to the village. The Vatican calls him “the first Pope from the United States of America.” ABC7 quoted Mayor Jason House: “Dolton is now forever imprinted on the world stage.” And the suburb still carries the name of the family who helped start a ferry on the Calumet in the 1830s.

Quick answers

Who is Dolton, Illinois, named after?

The Dolton family. George Dolton helped start the first ferry on the Little Calumet and built the toll bridge known as the Dolton bridge, and a 1909 county history says the settlement was called Dolton “in honor of Mr. Dolton.” The village plat was made for his sons in 1868.

Did Pope Leo XIV grow up in Dolton?

Yes. He was born in Chicago in 1955, and the Vatican says his parents later settled in Dolton. ABC7 Chicago reports that the family lived in their house on East 141st Place until 1969, according to the village.

Was Riverdale once called Dolton?

Yes, by Andrew H. Dolton’s account in the 1884 county history. He said Riverdale and Dolton were one settlement named Dolton until the Riverdale post office opened.

When was Dolton, Illinois, founded?

Andrew H. Dolton settled there in 1846, and the village plat was made on March 5, 1868. His father’s family had reached the river just to the north in the 1830s.

Key dates

1. 1835George Dolton and his family reach the Little Calumet, by one page of the 1884 county history; another gives 1838.
2. 1836George Dolton and J. C. Matthews start the first ferry at the river crossing.
3. 1841February: the legislature authorizes George Dolton to build a toll bridge over the Calumet.
4. 1842About this year the ferry gives way to the Dolton bridge, built by George Dolton and Levi Osterhoudt.
5. 1846Andrew H. Dolton, George's son, settles on the site of today's Dolton.
6. 1856The county buys the Dolton bridge and makes it free.
7. 1868March 5: Alexander Wolcott makes the village plat for the Dolton brothers.
8. 1955September 14: Robert Francis Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, is born in Chicago.
9. 2025December: the village declares the Prevost family's old house a historic landmark.

Getting there

The closest airports, Amtrak stations and intercity bus stops, measured in a straight line from the center of Dolton.

Airports

• Chicago Midway International (MDW) 13 mi 20 km
• Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) 28 mi 45 km

Amtrak trains

• Homewood station (HMW) 6 mi 10 km
• Hammond-Whiting station (HMI) 6 mi 10 km

Intercity buses

• FlixBus Chicago 95th / Dan Ryan 6 mi 9 km
• Amtrak Chartered Vehicle Amtrak Connecting Service · Hammond-Whiting Amtrak Station 6 mi 10 km
• Barons Bus Lines Gary 14 mi 23 km

Distances are as the crow flies, not by road. We don't list schedules or fares because they change; check with the airline, Amtrak or the bus company before you go. Official data (FAA commercial service airports (2025), FAA airport locations, Amtrak stations and Intercity Bus Atlas) from the FAA and the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, checked Nov 2, 2026.

Historical Sources & References

• A. T. Andreas, History of Cook County, Illinois (1884). George Dolton’s family on the Little Calumet in 1835, the 1836 ferry, the Dolton bridge and its sale to the county in 1856, the Riverdale post office of April 1873 and Andrew H. Dolton’s account of one settlement “with the name Dolton” (pp. 601-602); Andrew’s arrival in 1846, the plats of 1868 and 1870, the Dolton Station post office of 1869, the church land and Charles H. Dolton’s biography (p. 864).
• Weston A. Goodspeed and Daniel D. Healy, eds., History of Cook County, Illinois, vol. 1 (1909). The legislature’s 1841 authorization for George Dolton’s toll bridge (p. 514).
• Goodspeed and Healy, History of Cook County, Illinois, vol. 2 (1909). The ferry license, the Dolton bridge and the settlement “called Dolton rather than Riverdale, in honor of Mr. Dolton” (pp. 317-318); Andrew H. Dolton as first settler and first township supervisor (p. 358); the founding brothers and a post office date of 1870 (pp. 363-364).
• Holy See, “Biography of the Holy Father Leo XIV.” Born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, to parents who later settled in Dolton; elected May 8, 2025; “the first Pope from the United States of America.”
• ABC7 Chicago, “Pope Leo’s childhood Dolton home is officially a historical landmark” (December 2, 2025). The house at 212 East 141st Place, bought by the village and declared a landmark; the family lived there until 1969, the village said; the mayor’s “world stage” quote.
• GNIS feature 407295 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Dolton.