Port Byron Historical Society

02/20/2026

WARNING -Do NOT order anything from the recent comment on our page from Regina Ridley out of California. PBHS has NOT yet created any t-shirts, mugs, or goodies with our new logo. The comment has been deleted.

11/24/2025

Does anyone like to dig through old online newspapers for stories? Port Byron's 200th will be here before we know it - in 2028. A page feature we can start anytime is "This Day in History". Thankfully The Port Byron Globe is online now. If anyone would like to do something like this, let me know. It would be up to you how often you want to post, when you want to post, etc. Message me through Messenger or email at pbhs1828!gmail.com

11/03/2025

Genealogy Help Requested:

Greetings to all our followers. I have had a busy summer and have not been able to get back to much digitizing yet, but there is much more to come. I look forward to sharing more photos with you. But first, I am looking for your help. I have no family ties to Port Byron, I moved here in 2000 from Minnesota.

The reason I became interested in Port Byron history is through a story I heard in 2016 about a burial site that is in the ag field in Coe Township. That is when I began researching who might be buried there. That was the start of learning how to do genealogical research. However, life happened and I set aside the mystery. My goal in 2023 was to pick the research back up and try to figure out the mystery. I jumped in head first and found myself making phone calls, visiting the local historical societies, meeting descendants, and even digging through dusty trunks and boxes in the attic of a local funeral home. I have made trees for all the families that lived in this area and I have narrowed down which family I think it is, but I have no concrete proof.

I am digging deep (grasping for straws) and hoping to find a diary/journal of the family or even a neighbor. We have spent a couple of years cleaning up the burial site and my ultimate goal is to give them a proper grave marker to honor these pioneers of the area. But I need to discover concrete proof of who is buried there. I know that might not ever happen, but I'm not giving up yet. If needed, the marker might simply say "Here lies pioneers of Coe Township known only to their Creator"

The families that could have information include (all of Coe Township 1850s-1890s):
William and Rebecca (Wears) Reynolds,
Isaiah and 1st wife Susannah (Johnson) Reynolds,
Isaiah and 2nd wife Lucinda (Wysarda) Reynolds,
Thomas Young (wife Elizabeth never moved from Pennsylvania),
John and Mary Fitzgibbons (I uncovered a story about this family that I can share with any interested descendants),
Reimer and Dora Doose.

If you are a historian of any of these families or know of who from these families might have boxes of treasures from them, please email [email protected].

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10/15/2025

"Port Byron Public Schools - October 11, 1921"
I have added these two photos to the School Album on our page as well, but I wanted to highlight the great work that Camera Corner in Davenport does! This very large (3 feet long) photo was donated to PBHS but was not in the best shape. Thankfully, it was stored between two pieces of glass (not a frame, just glass). The 2nd photo shows the left side of the photo with cracks around and over the children. The right side had a lot of cracks in the grass of the photo, and one section was cracked completely off (but still under the glass). They did a wonderful job at restoring this 104 year old photo! Unfortunately, none of the children or teachers are labeled. Can anyone help? (Note: the thumb nail might look blurry, just click on the image to make is bigger and clearer. It's a very long photo!)

10/15/2025

08/07/2025

We will not be having a monthly PBHS meeting in August. Instead, we will have a PBHS booth at the Port Byron Tugfest. We will be along Main Street between the Library and the Tug site. If you attend the Tugfest, be sure to stop by and see some of Port Byron’s history.

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08/05/2025

Hobo Days & Tug Fest memories of the past!

1st link to an article for the 1st Tug in 1987. Scanning of the 1987 article wasn't very good (nothing I can do about that).

2nd link is to the 1990 Tug

https://rockislandcountyil.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=tug%20fest&t=46667&i=t&by=1987&bdd=1980&d=01011987-12311987&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_port_byron_globe_usa_illinois_port_byron_19870806_english_2&df=1&dt=1&cid=3021

https://rockislandcountyil.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=tug%20fest&t=46667&i=t&by=1990&bdd=1990&d=01011990-12311990&m=between&ord=k1&fn=the_port_byron_globe_usa_illinois_port_byron_19900809_english_1&df=1&dt=10&cid=3021