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History · Adams

Adams’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Adams is an unincorporated town in Burton Township, Adams County, Illinois, United States, approximately 13 miles (21 km) southeast of Quincy. It is tracked by the census bureau as a census-designated place. Adams was laid out in 1838 and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 75.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Adams yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Adams’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Adams

See all 1 →
THTilford Marion HoganNotable
By decade

Adams, 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 Adams is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Adams has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Fall Creek Stone Arch Bridge in Fall Creek, 8 miles away.

Adams and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Adams. Tap a dot.
Fall Creek Stone Arch BridgeQuincy National CemeteryCoca-Cola Bottling Company BuildingQuincy East End Historic DistrictWilliam S. Warfield HouseRichard F. Newcomb House

Closest to Adams

Fall Creek Stone Arch BridgeFall Creek · Structure8miQuincy National CemeteryQuincy · Site9.3miCoca-Cola Bottling Company BuildingQuincy · Building10.5miQuincy East End Historic DistrictQuincy · District10.7miWilliam S. Warfield HouseQuincy · Building10.9mi

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. Fall Creek Stone Arch Bridge’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Adams?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Adams’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
📜 Burton📜 Payson📜 Payson📜 Liberty
The porch light’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Adams, ILView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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