A history of Pontiac,
since 1837
Postcards, papers and photographs of Pontiac from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Pontiac was established on July 27, 1837, by Henry Weed and brothers Lucius and Seth M. Young, who aimed to create the county seat for the newly formed Livingston County. Jesse W. Fell named the post office "Pontiac" in honor of the Native American leader. The town was designed during a time of economic depression, and the founders promised land and financial contributions for essential infrastructure, such as a courthouse and a bridge across the Vermilion River. However, within weeks of the town's founding, the Young brothers died, and Weed soon drifted away, leaving others to fulfill the town's early promises. Before leaving the county, Weed had built the first house in Pontiac.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Pontiac’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewBird's eye view of the city of Po…, 1869: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Pontiac, decade by decade
![On the Vermillion [sic] River](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/4343/17528571ea80ea495084-s.jpg)
1990s
4 historic places in Pontiac
4 places in Pontiac are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Where they are
Architectural styles
When they were listed
Listed 1978Jones House
Listed 1986Livingston County Courthouse
Listed 1990Pontiac City Hall and Fire StationListed 2023Strevell HouseThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Bird's eye view of the city of Pontiac, Livingston County, Illinois 1869 (1869) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (5) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.