History · Rome

Rome’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Rome. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
2recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Rome was first laid out in 1846 by William Scott. In 1866, Rome annexed land across the Skunk River, in order to be connected to the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Start Rome’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rome’s history is told.

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Famous people close to Rome

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By decade

Rome, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Rome is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Rome has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Oakland Mills Bridge in Westwood, 4.6 miles away.

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Oakland Mills Bridge’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Rome?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Rome’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

From Wikimedia Commons (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The door’s open

Where to, neighbor?

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01