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History · Bath

Bath’s history is
mostly unwritten

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

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

The area was first settled in 1828 by John Stewart and John Gillespie from the state of Kentucky. Future 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, surveyed the land on November 1, 1836. The settlement's name was most likely borrowed from another United States place named in turn after Bath, England, such as Bath, Ohio or Bath, New York. Alternatively, a popular story attributes the name to Lincoln quipping that the town's location on the Illinois River would be a nice place for a bath. Bath also became the name of the township when it was formed in 1861.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Be one of the first

Start Bath’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from BathWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Bath.Meet them →
By decade

Bath, 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.
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National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Bath is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bath has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Havana Public Library in Havana, 8.6 miles away.

Bath and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bath. Tap a dot.
Havana Public LibraryHavana Water TowerOgden-Fettie SiteDuncan Mills BridgeEast Waterford SchoolRobinson-Bonnett Inn

Closest to Bath

Havana Public LibraryHavana · Building8.6miHavana Water TowerHavana · Structure8.8miOgden-Fettie SiteWaterford · Site10.5miDuncan Mills BridgeIsabel · Structure10.7miEast Waterford SchoolWaterford · Building11.2mi

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. Havana Public Library’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bath?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bath’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
📜 Kerton📜 Bath📜 Hickory📜 Kilbourne
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Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Bath, ILView boundary

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