The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗The name of the town is after Mecan River, which is a corruption of "Namayicun", from one of the Algonquian languages meaning "Sturgeoning Grounds" (cf. Ojibwe language: namekaan, "sturgeoning grounds"). However, Vogel (1991) cites the name to come from the Ojibwe word miikana meaning "road."
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Be one of the first
Start Mecan’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mecan’s history is told.
0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people close to Mecan
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By decade
Mecan, 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 Mecan is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Mecan has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Princeton Downtown Historic District in Princeton, 4.3 miles away.
Mecan and the nearest listed places
Dashed line = Mecan. Tap a dot.
Closest to Mecan
Princeton Downtown Historic DistrictPrinceton · District4.3miMontello Commercial Historic DistrictMontello · District6.2miKetchum, Daniel and Caltherine, Cobblestone HouseMarquette · Building6.3miMethodist Episcopal ChurchMarquette · Building6.4miVaughn's Hall and Blacksmith ShopMontello · Built 19126.4mi
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. Princeton Downtown Historic District’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Mecan?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Mecan’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.