McHenry’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 2 old photos of McHenry. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗In the 1830s various settlers arrived in the area and created the foundation for McHenry. Some of the family names can still be seen today: McCullom, McLean, Boone, and Wheeler.
George Gage came to the area in 1835 and purchased a plot of land west of the Fox River. This area eventually came to be known as Gagetown. In 1854, George Gage played an instrumental role in bringing the railroad to the city. Gagetown was eventually renamed to West McHenry.
In 1851, a dam was built on Boone Creek which created Mill Pond. The pond encompassed an area between today's rail road tracks and Route 31 and north of Waukegan Road.
On August 4, 1875, the first issue of the city newspaper, the McHenry Plaindealer, was published by Jay Van Slyke.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Start McHenry’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how McHenry’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo2 archive items have no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewMcHenry House Hotel (NBY 4025): stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from McHenry
See all 11 →
McHenry, decade by decade
2000
unknown2 items
Nothing in McHenry is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean McHenry has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Colby-Petersen Farm in McHenry, 0.6 miles away.
McHenry and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as McHenry House Hotel (NBY 4025) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (8). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.