The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Esbon was laid out in 1873. It was incorporated as a city in 1904.
The first post office in Esbon was established in January 1874.
Esbon was a shipping point on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Esbon’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Esbon’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Esbon
See all 1 →By decade
Esbon, 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 albumNational Register of Historic Places
Nothing in Esbon is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Esbon has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Burr Oak School in Burr Oak, 7.6 miles away.
Esbon and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Esbon. 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. Burr Oak School’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Esbon?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Esbon’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.