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History · Bell Plain

Bell Plain’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Bell Plain. 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

Pattonsburg is an unincorporated community in Marshall County, Illinois, United States, located 6 miles (9.7 km) east-northeast of Washburn.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 400 to 332 (-17%). Half of its homes were built before 1951.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bell Plain 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 Bell Plain’s collection

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

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

Bell Plain, 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 Bell Plain is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bell Plain has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Robert Waugh House in Sparland, 12.6 miles away.

Bell Plain and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bell Plain. Tap a dot.
Robert Waugh HouseMetamora CourthouseAdlai E. Stevenson I HousePeoria Automobile ClubMemorial Bandstand of Long PointJoseph Schertz House

Closest to Bell Plain

Robert Waugh HouseSparland · Building12.6miMetamora CourthouseMetamora · Building14.9miAdlai E. Stevenson I HouseMetamora · Building15.1miPeoria Automobile ClubChillicothe · Building15.4miMemorial Bandstand of Long PointLong Point · Structure16.7mi

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. Robert Waugh House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bell Plain?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bell Plain’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
📜 La Rose📜 Varna📜 Toluca📜 Bennington
The coffee’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Bell Plain, ILMarshall CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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