A history of Lemont,
then and now
Postcards, papers and photographs of Lemont from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Before European settlers arrived in Lemont, Native Americans traveled the Des Plaines River in birch bark canoes on trading trips between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan. The native Potawatomi lived off the land in this area, directly using natural resources for food, shelter, clothing and medicine. In the 18th century, French voyageurs traveled down the Des Plaines River, trading Native Americans metal, beads and cloth for animal furs.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Lemont’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewView from picnic grounds, 1900: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Lemont
See all 9 →
Lemont, decade by decade
![Station [of the Chicago and Alton Railroad] at Lemont, Ill](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/20859/4cece9f1df7e2ea5ebf3-s.jpg)
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as View from picnic grounds (1900) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.