The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusEsmen Township is located in Livingston County, Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 338 and it contained 141 housing units.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 326 to 338 (+4%). Half of its homes were built before 1953.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Esmen 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 Esmen’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Esmen’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Esmen
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By decade
Esmen, decade by decade
Before
2000
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 albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Esmen is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Esmen has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Pontiac City Hall and Fire Station in Pontiac, 6 miles away.
Esmen and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Esmen. Tap a dot.
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. Pontiac City Hall and Fire Station’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Esmen?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Esmen’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons