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History · Metcalf

Metcalf’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Metcalf. 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

Metcalf is a village in Young America Township, Edgar County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Metcalf had a population of 139.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 189 to 139 (-26%). Half of its homes were built before 1938.

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

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

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from MetcalfWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Metcalf.Meet them →
By decade

Metcalf, 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 Metcalf is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Metcalf has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Streibich Blacksmith Shop in Newman, 8.7 miles away.

Metcalf and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Metcalf. Tap a dot.
Streibich Blacksmith ShopPine Grove Community ClubHenry Clay Moss HouseEdgar County CourthouseFrance HotelParis Carnegie Public Library

Closest to Metcalf

Streibich Blacksmith ShopNewman · Building8.7miPine Grove Community ClubEdgar · Building8.9miHenry Clay Moss HouseParis · Late Victorian14.1miEdgar County CourthouseParis · Romanesque Revival14.3miFrance HotelParis · Neo-Classical14.4mi

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. Streibich Blacksmith Shop’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Metcalf?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Metcalf’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
📜 Hume📜 Young America📜 Shiloh📜 Ross
The door’s open

Where to, neighbor?

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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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