The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Bern got its start in the late 1880s, following construction of the railroad through that territory. It was named by Swiss immigrants after Bern, the capital of Switzerland.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Bern’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bern’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Bern
See all 1 →By decade
Bern, decade by decade
Before
2000
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 albumToday1 photo
National Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Bern is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Bern has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Alfred and Magdalena Schmid Farmstead in Dawson, 6.6 miles away.
Bern and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Bern. Tap a dot.
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. Alfred and Magdalena Schmid Farmstead’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Bern?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Bern’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old placeNational 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’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.