A history of Riverside,
since 1875
Postcards, papers and photographs of Riverside from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Riverside is arguably the first planned suburb (as opposed to a stand-alone community) in the United States, designed in 1869 by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. The village was incorporated in 1875. The Riverside Landscape Architecture District, an area bounded by 26th Street, Harlem and Ogden avenues, the Des Plaines River, and Golf Road, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Riverside’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
3 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewWohnhaus für Herrn Coonley, 1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Riverside
See all 15 →
Riverside, decade by decade
1950s
1990s
Commons19990103 04 Scottswood Rd2015
Commons19990103 02 Loncommon Rd2015
CommonsUnited Methodist Church - La Iglesia Metodista Unida2013
CommonsRiverside, Illinois2013
CommonsUntitled photo2013
CommonsDowntown2012
DocumentGreetings from Riverside, Illinois - Large Letter Postcard2012
CommonsBoxcar, Great Northern2011
CommonsBoxcar, Great Northern2011
CommonsDowntown Riverside Illinois - 20072007
CommonsRiverside Presbyterian Church2003Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Wohnhaus für Herrn Coonley (1910) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (16) and the Library of Congress (5). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.