Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bush

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Bush

Bush dates to 1902, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1902founded
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
17old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bush’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bush began

When was Bush founded?

1902

Bush dates its founding to 1902 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 565 in 19102020 census: 241124 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1904.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bush’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A town in old photos17 old photos, postcards and papers.Boom and bustPeaked at 962 in 1920; 241 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19104 editions of the USGS map, 1910 to 1978. Watch Bush change.Old housesHalf of Bush’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bush, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s17 items
Miners' homes. Bush, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Bush, IllinoisMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois1939Miners' homes. Bush, IllinoisMiner's home. Bush, Illinois1939Miner's home. Bush, IllinoisMiner's home. Bush, Illinois1939Miner's home. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed mine worker. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine worker. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed mine worker. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine worker. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed coal miner. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed coal miner. Bush, IllinoisUnemployed mine-worker. Bush, Illinois1939Unemployed mine-worker. Bush, IllinoisCoal miner and daughter. Bush, Illinois1939Coal miner and daughter. Bush, IllinoisWife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. Bush, Illinois1939Wife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. B…Wife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. Bush, Illinois1939Wife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. B…Coal miner, unemployed because of mechanization of mines. Bush, Illinois1939Coal miner, unemployed because of mechanization of mi…Coal miner who is unemployed because of mechanization of coal mine. Bush, Illinois1939Coal miner who is unemployed because of mechanization…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Wife of WPA (Works Progress Administration) worker. Bush, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Wife of WPA (Wor…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Coal miner who is unemployed because of mechanization of coal mine. Bush, Illinois1939Untitled photo, possibly related to: Coal miner who i…
1940s–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
Today1 recent
Bush-Village-WW-FD-il2021Bush-Village-WW-FD-il
People over time

Bush, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 962

Peaked at 962 in 1920; 241 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bush’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Bush on the map, 1910 to 1978

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bush. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Bush on the 1910 USGS mapBush on the 1936 USGS mapBush on the 1968 USGS mapBush on the 1978 USGS map1910Herrin sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bush.

The story

How Bush came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bush.

Read it all →

Bush was founded in 1902 and named for Benjamin Franklin Bush (1860–1927), a railroad and mining official who later became president of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The village developed around a coal mine which had opened that year. A branch of the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railway (later part of the Missouri Pacific) was extended to Bush in 1903, and a post office opened in 1904. The community incorporated as a village in 1905.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bush, 1902 to 1939

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1902
    FoundingBush is established
  3. 1904Post officeThe Bush post office opens
  4. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 962
  6. 1925Born hereCarl Loyd is born here
  7. 1936Post officeThe Bush post office closes
  8. 1939In the archiveMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois
Then & 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.

Miners' homes. Bush, Illinois
Retake this viewMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bush’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Bush had its own post office from 1904 to 1936.

Bush
1904–1936
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Hurst Elementary Schoolschool

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Bush’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMiners' homes. Bush, Illinois: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Bush’s history

What year was Bush founded?

In 1902, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bush’s post office opened in 1904, and the census of 1910 counted 565 people here.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (17), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.