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History · Dry Grove

Dry Grove’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Dry Grove. 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

Dry Grove Township is located in McLean County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, its population was 1,572 and it contained 618 housing units. It contains part of the census-designated place of Twin Grove. Dry Grove Township took its name after Dry Grove, an area of forest at a relatively high and dry elevation.

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,572 people in 2010, 1,543 in 2020. Half of its homes were built before 1977.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Dry Grove 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.

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Start Dry Grove’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dry Grove’s history is told.

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

Dry Grove, 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 Dry Grove is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Dry Grove has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Fairview Sanatorium in Normal, 5.2 miles away.

Dry Grove and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Dry Grove. Tap a dot.
Fairview SanatoriumJohn W. Cook HallNormal TheaterSprague's Super ServiceVan Leer, Margaret and Bird, Broadview MansionGeorge H. Miller House

Closest to Dry Grove

Fairview SanatoriumNormal · Built 19195.2miJohn W. Cook HallNormal · Building5.7miNormal TheaterNormal · Art Moderne6miSprague's Super ServiceNormal · House and Canopy Gas Station6.1miVan Leer, Margaret and Bird, Broadview MansionNormal · Building6.3mi

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. Fairview Sanatorium’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Dry Grove?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Dry Grove’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
📜 Carlock📜 Danvers📜 White Oak📜 Normal
The door’s open

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Dry Grove, ILMcLean 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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