Pearl’s history is
mostly unwritten
The public archives hold only 5 old photos of Pearl. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
The story so far
from Wikipedia & the U.S. CensusPearl is a village in Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 103 at the 2020 census. The village, settled in the late 19th century, is named after pearl buttons drilled from the large supply of native mussels that once lived in the nearby Illinois River.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 138 to 103 (-25%). Half of its homes were built before 1954.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Pearl 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.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowStart Pearl’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Pearl’s history is told.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🗓️Date a photo1 archive item has no date+2 🔁Retake an old viewStone quarry at Pearl, Ill[inoi]s, 1890: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Pearl, decade by decade
1990s
unknown1 item
Nothing in Pearl is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Pearl has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Tillery, Virginia, Round Barn in White Hall, 9.5 miles away.
Pearl 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 Stone quarry at Pearl, Ill[inoi]s (1890) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1) and the Library of Congress (4). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.