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History · Bush

A history of Bush,
then and now

Postcards, papers and photographs of Bush from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.

12old images & papers
0recent photos
From Bush’s archive · credits on each photo

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Bush was founded in 1902 and named for Benjamin Franklin Bush (1860–1927), a railroad and mining official who later became president of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The village developed around a coal mine which had opened that year. A branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later part of the Missouri Pacific) was extended to Bush in 1903, and a post office opened in 1904. The community incorporated as a village in 1905.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
1930s12 items · Miners' homes. Bush, IllinoisLOC
1940–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Help out

Finish Bush’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 viewMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois, 1939: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Bush

See all 1 →
CLCarl LoydSports
By decade

Bush, decade by decade

1930s12 items
Miners' homes. Bush, IllinoisLOCMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Bush, IllinoisLOCMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois1939Miner's home. Bush, IllinoisLOCMiner's home. Bush, Illinois1939Miner's home. Bush, IllinoisLOCMiner's home. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine worker. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed mine worker. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine worker. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed mine worker. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine-worker. Bush, IllinoisLOCUnemployed mine-worker. Bush, Illinois1939Coal miner and daughter. Bush, IllinoisLOCCoal miner and daughter. Bush, Illinois1939Wife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. Bush, IllinoisLOCWife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. Bush, I…1939
1940s–
1990s
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings 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 Bush is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bush has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale, 9.1 miles away.

Bush and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Bush. Tap a dot.
Woodlawn CemeteryIllinois Central Railroad Passenger DepotWest Walnut Street Historic DistrictReef HouseFuller, R. Buckminster, and Anne Hewlett Dome HomeGrange Hall

Closest to Bush

Woodlawn CemeteryCarbondale · Site9.1miIllinois Central Railroad Passenger DepotCarbondale · Building9.2miWest Walnut Street Historic DistrictCarbondale · District9.5miReef HouseCarbondale · Building9.6miFuller, R. Buckminster, and Anne Hewlett Dome HomeCarbondale · Building9.7mi

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. Woodlawn Cemetery’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bush?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bush’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

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Miners' homes. Bush, Illinois (1939) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Hurst📜 Royalton📜 Colp📜 De Soto

From the Library of Congress (12). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

The coffee’s on

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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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