The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Delavan was platted in 1870 when the railroad was extended to that point and named for Oren Delavan Brown, a railroad official. A post office was established as Delavan Station in 1870, and the name of the post office was changed to Delavan in 1885. Delavan was incorporated in 1877.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Delavan’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Delavan’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Delavan
See all 4 →By decade
Delavan, 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 Delavan is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Delavan has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Andrew C. Dunn House in Winnebago, 7.4 miles away.
Delavan and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Delavan. 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. Andrew C. Dunn House’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Delavan?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Delavan’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.