TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
HerscherGood night
History · Herscher

Herscher’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Herscher. 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

Herscher is a village in Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,521 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kankakee–Bradley metropolitan area.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,591 to 1,521 (-4%). Half of its homes were built before 1968.

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

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

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

Famous people close to Herscher

See all 12 →
JZJoseph ZellerCampus · 11 miDSDennis Edward SpiesClifton · 12 miAWArch WardIrwin · 6 miBMBig Moose MeyerBonfield · 7 miFWFlorence E. WellsChebanse · 10 miHNHelen NethercuttBuckingham · 4 mi
By decade

Herscher, 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 Herscher is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Herscher has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Illinois Central Railroad Depot in Kankakee, 12.9 miles away.

Herscher and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Herscher. Tap a dot.
Illinois Central Railroad DepotKankakee State Hospital Historic DistrictPope Brace Company BuildingHunter-Hattenburg HouseCharles E. Swannell HouseWarren Hickox House

Closest to Herscher

Illinois Central Railroad DepotKankakee · Late Victorian · Built 189812.9miKankakee State Hospital Historic DistrictKankakee · District13miPope Brace Company BuildingKankakee · Built 192213.1miHunter-Hattenburg HouseKankakee · Queen Anne13.2miCharles E. Swannell HouseKankakee · Building13.2mi

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. Illinois Central Railroad Depot’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Herscher?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Herscher’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
📜 Pilot📜 Buckingham📜 Union Hill📜 Norton
We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Herscher, ILView boundary

Nearby

All towns & citiesExplore the map

Local begins with a boundary.

See what belongs to your selected town.

Loading boundary…

Herscher is your selected town. The feed includes posts assigned to this town, not a distance radius or ZIP code.

Neighborhoods narrow the feed further, while townwide announcements, events, and issues remain visible.

Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
Open detailed map