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History · Chillicothe

Chillicothe in old photos and postcards

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

18old photos & papers
1historic places
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Chillicothe’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Chillicothe’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1861–1943.Old housesHalf of Chillicothe’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · By decade

Chillicothe, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
Map of Chillicothe, Illinois (1861)1861Map of Chillicothe, Illinois (1861)Map
1910s–1940s17 items
Public Schools1911Public Schools Peoria Auto Club1916Peoria Auto Club Chillicothe, Illinois. Crossing the Illinois River along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, between Chicago an…1943Chillicothe, Illinois. Crossing the Illinois River al… Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe…1943Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of… Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe…1943Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of… Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe…1943Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train al…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train al…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. Changing crews and cabooses of a westbound freight train al…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade extending eight miles on the Atchison, To…1943Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on fo… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade exte…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade exte…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade exte…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade exte…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Illinois. A helper engine is taken on for added power on a grade exte…1943Untitled photo, possibly related to: Chillicothe, Ill… Chillicothe (vicinity), Illinois. Leaving the helper engine behind, eight miles west of Chillicothe on the Atchison, To…1943Chillicothe (vicinity), Illinois. Leaving the helper … Chillicothe (vicinity), Illinois. Leaving the helper engine behind, eight miles west of Chillicothe on the Atchison, To…1943Chillicothe (vicinity), Illinois. Leaving the helper …
1950s–1990snothing yet
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
The story

How Chillicothe came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chillicothe.

Read it all →

The name Chillicothe comes from the name of the Chalahgawtha sect of the Shawnee nation.

Along with Peoria, Chillicothe grew due to river traffic and quickly became a stop for barge and railroad traffic traveling to and from Chicago and St. Louis.

In the late 1800s, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was building its mainline from Chicago to Kansas City and selected Chillicothe as its crossing point of the Illinois River. The railroad quickly became an establishment in Chillicothe as a crew change point and a notable stop in Central Illinois. Chillicothe today still remains a key point on the Southern Transcon route between Chicago and Los Angeles with high frequency intermodal freight trains moving through daily.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chillicothe, 1861 to 1943

Woven from the archive, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1861In the archiveMap of Chillicothe, Illinois (1861)
  3. 20th century
  4. 1911In the archivePublic Schools
  5. 1943In the archiveChillicothe, Illinois. Crossing the Illinois River along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa F…
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Public Schools
Retake this viewPublic Schools, 1911

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Chillicothe’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Chillicothe

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Peoria Automobile Club
in Illinois
#229
by listings
Peoria Automobile Club
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Classical Revival1
Peoria Automobile ClubClassical Revival

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Help out

Finish Chillicothe’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPublic Schools: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

RomeIts story

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (17), the National Register of Historic Places (1) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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