A history of Bement,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Bement from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusBement is a village in Piatt County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 1,484 at the 2020 census.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,730 to 1,484 (-14%). Half of its homes were built before 1962.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Bement 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.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Bement’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2)…, 1933: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Bement
See all 2 →Bement, decade by decade
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…1933
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…1933
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…1933
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 1 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…1933
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…1933
CommonsHABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 2 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilso…19331990s
1 historic place in Bement
1 place in Bement is on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
When they were listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as HABS ILL,74-BEM,1- (sheet 0 of 2) - Bryant House, 116 Wilson Street (1933) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.