A history of Athens,
since 1797
Postcards, papers and photographs of Athens from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The first permanent European settlers arrived in Athens in 1797, more than a decade after the United States victory in the American Revolutionary War. In 1800, the town site was first surveyed and plotted and incorporated as a village in 1811. Ohio had become a state in 1803. Ohio University was chartered in 1804, the first public institution of higher learning in the Northwest Territory. Previously part of Washington County, Ohio, Athens County was formed in 1805, named for the ancient center of learning, Athens, Greece.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Athens’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewSoldiers Monument, 1908: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Athens
See all 45 →
Athens, decade by decade
LOCEwing Hall, Ohio University1905
LOCNormal College, Ohio University1905
LOCSoldiers Monument1905
LOCThe Falls, State Insane Hospital1905
LOCAdministration Building, State Insane Hospital1905
CommonsSoldiers Monument1908 · postcard
CommonsSoldiers Monument1908 · postcard
CommonsAsylum Gate1909 · postcard
CommonsAsylum Gate1909 · postcard
1990s
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as 1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Ohio - Athens County - ED 5-1, ED 5-2, ED 5-3, ED 5-4, ED 5-5 (1850) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Historic places
National Register · via Wikidata
From Wikimedia Commons (11), the Library of Congress (5) and the National Register (2). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.