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History · Findlay

Findlay’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Findlay. 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

Findlay is a village in Shelby County, Illinois, United States. The population was 664 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 683 to 664 (-3%). Half of its homes were built before 1953.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Findlay 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 Findlay’s collection

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

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

Famous people from Findlay

See all 2 →
Hap HadleyHap HadleyWriting & ArtsJCJohn E. CribbetScience & Medicine
By decade

Findlay, 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 Findlay is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Findlay has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Westervelt Christian Church in Ridge, 6.3 miles away.

Findlay and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Findlay. Tap a dot.
Westervelt Christian ChurchChautauqua AuditoriumShelbyville Historic DistrictHorace M. Tallman HouseMoultrie County CourthouseClarksburg Schoolhouse

Closest to Findlay

Westervelt Christian ChurchRidge · Classical Revival6.3miChautauqua AuditoriumShelbyville · Built 19037.4miShelbyville Historic DistrictShelbyville · District8.2miHorace M. Tallman HouseShelbyville · Building8.4miMoultrie County CourthouseSullivan · Building9.5mi

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. Westervelt Christian Church’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Findlay?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Findlay’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
📜 Todds Point📜 Okaw📜 Pickaway📜 Windsor
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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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