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History · Elvaston

Elvaston’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Elvaston. 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

Elvaston is a village in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 147 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 165 to 147 (-11%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Elvaston 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.

Be one of the first

Start Elvaston’s collection

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Famous people from Elvaston

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MMMyrta L. McClellanScience & Medicine
By decade

Elvaston, 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.
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National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Elvaston is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Elvaston has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District in Carthage, 6.1 miles away.

Elvaston and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Elvaston. Tap a dot.
Carthage Courthouse Square Historic DistrictKeokuk Lock and DamCarthage JailLock and Dam No. 19 Historic DistrictGeo. M. VerityGen. William Worth Belknap House

Closest to Elvaston

Carthage Courthouse Square Historic DistrictCarthage · District6.1miKeokuk Lock and DamKeokuk · Structure6.2miCarthage JailCarthage · Building6.3miLock and Dam No. 19 Historic DistrictKeokuk · District6.4miGeo. M. VerityKeokuk · Structure6.5mi

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. Carthage Courthouse Square Historic District’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Elvaston?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Elvaston’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
📜 Prairie📜 Montebello📜 Basco📜 Bear Creek
The door’s open

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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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