Lyons’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 4 old photos of Lyons. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Lyons was incorporated in 1888, though activity in the area dates back much further. In 1673 French Explorer Louis Joliet and Jesuit missionary Father Pierre Marquette left Green Bay, Wisconsin, by canoe in search of a western passage to the Pacific. As they traveled into the Spanish-controlled area of Louisiana, they realized that the mighty Mississippi River drained into the already well-known Gulf of Mexico. With winter approaching, they headed north as quickly as possible. To save time, the Potawatomi who were with them were encouraged to change their route to the Illinois River. The shortcut led to the Des Plaines River and caused the French travelers to discover “Le Portage.” This half-mile wide area of land connecting the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River, over which they could carry their canoes and supplies, was to become the discovery for which they would both become fa…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Lyons’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lyons’s history is told.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo2 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewFood Administration - Anti-Waste …, 1917: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Lyons
See all 2 →Lyons, decade by decade
1950s
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Food Administration - Anti-Waste Campaign - School children of Lyons, Illinois have their own sheep, sold to them by Bo… (1917) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (4) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.