The story so far
Oberlin, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Oberlin yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 588 to 670 (+14%).
History · Oberlin
From Oberlin’s archive · credits on each photo Oberlin’s history is mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Oberlin. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
1old photo or paper
What stands out about Oberlin’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Oberlin’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oberlin’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.By decade
Oberlin, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
![Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/44492/f638c987c7cc2bc66e13-s.jpg)
19121920s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
2025
2025
2025Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Institutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches](https://images.towntapestry.org/story/44492/f638c987c7cc2bc66e13-l.jpg)
Retake this viewInstitutional structures by Gilbert.] [Sketches, 1912
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oberlin’s page.
Retake this view · +15Stories next door
History across the town line
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Weigh in
Has Oberlin changed for the better?
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Start a conversation
From Wikimedia Commons (3) and the Library of Congress (1). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.