Old Shawneetown, Illinois

Old Shawneetown, Illinois
Village
Old Shawneetown Court House in 1937
Location of Old Shawneetown in Gallatin County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Coordinates: 37°41′54″N88°8′13″W / 37.69833°N 88.13694°W / 37.69833; -88.13694
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Gallatin
Area [1]
• Total	0.51 sq mi (1.32 km2)
• Land	0.51 sq mi (1.32 km2)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)
Elevation [2]	348 ft (106 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	113
• Density	221.57/sq mi (85.51/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	62984
Area code	618
FIPS code	17-55756
GNIS ID	2399569 [2]
Wikimedia Commons	Old Shawneetown, Illinois

Old Shawneetown is a village in Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 113, ^[3] down from 193 at the 2010 census. ^[4] Located along the Ohio River, Shawneetown served as an important United States government administrative center for the Northwest Territory. The village was devastated by the Ohio River flood of 1937. The village's population was moved several miles inland to New Shawneetown.

1937 flood Shawneetown Illinois refugees

History

At least one record suggests that a village was established here by the Pekowi Shawnee led by Peter Chartier about 1758. ^{[5] : 216–217} In early November 1803, Lewis and Clark are believed to have stopped at Old Shawneetown on their way to Fort Massac, just down the Ohio River. ^[6]

After the American Revolution, Shawneetown served as an important United States government administrative center for the Northwest Territory. Shawneetown and Washington, D.C., share the distinction of being the only towns chartered by the United States government.

Old Shawneetown is the site of the first bank chartered in Illinois, in 1816. ^[7] Originally in a log cabin, it was replaced in 1822 with a brick structure (only the second one in the town) now known as the John Marshall House. ^[8]

Local legend states that the Shawneetown Bank refused to buy the first bonds issued by the city of Chicago on the grounds that no city located that far from a navigable river could survive.

Another historic bank building, the Bank of Illinois, was constructed in 1839-41 to house the offices of the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown. It later housed numerous other financial institutions before it was closed in the 1930s. This fine example of Greek Revival architecture survives as the Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site.

Residents long remembered the visit by Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette of France to the city on May 8, 1825, as a high point for the early community's social history. ^[9]

After the Great Flood of 1937, many residents moved to the current location of Shawneetown. The old courthouse was torn down and a new Gallatin County Courthouse was constructed in 1939. ^[10]

Geography

Old Shawneetown is located in southeastern Gallatin County at 37°41′54″N88°8′13″W / 37.69833°N 88.13694°W / 37.69833; -88.13694 (37.698197, -88.136857), ^[11] on the northwest bank of the Ohio River. Illinois Route 13 passes through the village. To the east it crosses the Shawneetown Bridge over the Ohio, becoming Kentucky Route 56 and leading 13 miles (21 km) to Morganfield, Kentucky. To the west, IL 13 leads 3 miles (5 km) to Shawneetown, the Gallatin County seat, and 23 miles (37 km) to Harrisburg.

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Old Shawneetown has a total area of 0.51 square miles (1.32 km²), all land. ^[12]

In 2019, Old Shawneetown was featured on PBS NewsHour in a segment on communities subjected to repeated flooding. ^[13] Because of the town's historically flood-prone location, it is prohibitively difficult to insure, and some researchers have recommended a total relocation of the remaining residents as a preventative policy.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1830	446		—
1840	1,900		326.0%
1850	1,764		−7.2%
1860	1,115		−36.8%
1870	1,309		17.4%
1880	1,851		41.4%
1890	1,570		−15.2%
1900	1,698		8.2%
1910	1,863		9.7%
1920	1,368		−26.6%
1930	1,440		5.3%
1940	1,357		−5.8%
1950	578		−57.4%
1960	433		−25.1%
1970	342		−21.0%
1980	396		15.8%
1990	356		−10.1%
2000	278		−21.9%
2010	193		−30.6%
2020	113		−41.5%
U.S. Decennial Census [14]

As of the 2020 census ^[3] there were 113 people, 40 households, and 21 families residing in the village. The population density was 221.57 inhabitants per square mile (85.55/km²). There were 65 housing units at an average density of 127.45 per square mile (49.21/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 92.92% White, 1.77% from other races, and 5.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.77% of the population.

There were 40 households, out of which 32.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 17.50% were married couples living together, 15.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.50% were non-families. 47.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 30.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Below the poverty line was 75% of those under the age of 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Claudia Cassidy, music and drama critic for the Chicago Tribune
• Peter Chartier, Shawnee Indian chief
• Sarah Marshall Hayden, first female novelist in Illinois
• Robert G. Ingersoll, orator
• Michael Kelly Lawler, Union Army officer
• John Alexander McClernand, Union Army general and U.S. congressman
• John McLean, U.S. senator and congressman
• William W. Wilshire, U.S. congressman
• Bluford Wilson, Union Army officer
• James Harrison Wilson, Union Army general

See also

• Illinois Salines
• List of cities and towns along the Ohio River

References

1. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
2. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Old Shawneetown, Illinois
3. "Explore Census Data". data.census.gov. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
4. "G001 - Geographic Identifiers - 2010 Census Summary File 1". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
5. Thwaites, Reuben Gold. The French Regime in Wisconsin and the Northwest, Vol I 1634-1760. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1908
6. The Journals of Lewis and Clark, Nov. 11, 1803.
7. "Tidbits". Ludington Daily News. August 4, 2001. p. 33. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
8. Christiana Holmes Tillson; Milo Milton Quaife, ed. 1919, Reprint 1995. A Woman's Story of Pioneer Illinois. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press. 49-65.
9. 1887. History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Company. 96-97.
10. Weiser 2009, p. 53.
11. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
12. Bureau, US Census. "Gazetteer Files". Census.gov. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
13. Cat Wise (May 28, 2019). "The radical approach these communities have taken to flooding". PBS NewsHour . Retrieved May 29, 2019.
14. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.

Further reading

• 1887. History of Gallatin, Saline, Hamilton, Franklin and Williamson Counties, Illinois. Chicago: Goodspeed Publishing Co.
• Musgrave, Jon, ed. 2002. Handbook of Old Gallatin County and Southeastern Illinois. Marion, Ill.: IllinoisHistory.com. 464 pages.
• Musgrave, Jon. 2004, Rev. ed. 2005. Slaves, Salt, Sex & Mr. Crenshaw: The Real Story of the Old Slave House and America's Reverse Underground R.R.. Marion, Ill.: IllinoisHistory.com. 608 pages.
• Waggoner, Horace Q., interviewer. 1978. "Lucille Lawler Memoir" Shawneetown Bank Project. Sangamon State University. Springfield, Ill.
• Weiser, Dennis (2009). Illinois courthouses: an illustrated history. Virginia Beach, Va.: Donning Co. ISBN   978-1578646012.