The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Its township's beginnings initiated originally in a no longer existing settlement called Elton, an area South of Durand and including parts of the Pecatonica and Rock Run townships and settled in 1835 by Nelson Salisbury, Harvey Lower, and Scott Robb. They and nine other families settled the Southwest portion of modern Durand, Pecatonica, and Rock Run area. Durand gave birth to Illinois' first tax-supported volunteer fire department. Since its settlement, Durand has been prone to devastating fires. Durand's early flourishings were closely linked to the development of the Racine-Mississippi Railroad later absorbed into Western Union. The line reached Durand in 1857, en route to Freeport, paving the shift from the Elton community into modern Durand and deriving its name from the railroad's first president, H.S. Durand. At this time, Durand saw the beginning of its prosperity which en…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Durand’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Durand’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewHarriet Williams Myers (Who's Who…, 1929: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Durand, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Durand is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Durand has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Christenson-Anderson Farm in Laona, 3.9 miles away.
Durand and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Harriet Williams Myers (Who's Who in Los Angeles County, 1929) (1929) 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.