Chenoa’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 3 old photos of Chenoa. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The Town of Chenoa was laid out on May 13, 1856, by Matthew T. Scott. At this time, the Chicago and Alton Railroad had been running trains for almost two years but the survey for the east-west Toledo, Peoria and Oquawka (soon to be the Toledo, Peoria and Western) had not reached McLean County. Scott anticipated the place where the railroads would cross and platted the town which he called Chenoa. Scott (February 24, 1828 - May 21, 1891) was the son of a Kentucky banker, and, by the time he reached Illinois, was an experienced land developer who led a group of well-financed investors. The European settlement history of Chenoa began in 1854 when Matthew T. Scott began buying thousands of acres of land in this area.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Chenoa’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chenoa’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBird's eye view of Chenoa, McLean…, 1869: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Chenoa
See all 11 →
Chenoa, decade by decade
1990s
2 historic places in Chenoa
2 places in Chenoa are 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 Bird's eye view of Chenoa, McLean County, Illinois 1869 (1869) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (9) and the Library of Congress (3). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.