History of Gallatin County
History of Gallatin County
This History Article Courtesy of Cindy Birk Conley
- The village of Shawneetown was the first settlement on the
eastern side of
Illinois, founded by Michael Sprinkle in 1800. It was built
near Half Moon
Lick, a natural salt spring, which had previously attracted
Native Americans
and a French fort. A land office was established in the town in
1814, two
years after Gallatin County was formed, and the state's first
bank was
opened by John Marshall in 1816. The Marquis De Lafayette
visited
Shawneetown on his American tour in 1825, demonstrating the
town's
prominence. A long-standing legend is that a delegation from the
newly-chartered village of Chicago visited Shawneetown in
1833--the date
varies--and was told that Chicago was too far away from
Shawneetown to ever
amount to anything. Other versions place the loan rejection
just after the
Chicago Fire of 1871, but no evidence supports this historic
myth.
- The Second Bank of Illinois, an imposing sandstone structure
boasting 5
Doric columns, was built in 1840 at a cost of $86,000. Besides
river
commerce and agriculture, coal and iron ore mining were major
industries.
The salt industry fueled the county's early economy, and led to
the growth
of Equality, located near Lower Lick in the southern portion of
the county.
Special provisions in Illinois law allowed slaves to provide
most of the
labor in the salt-making operation, and for many years the home
of salt and
land baron John Crenshaw has been a tourist attraction as the
Old Slave
House, where runaway slaves and unfortunate free blacks were
held before
being sold in Kentucky or Tennesee. (The home closed to
tourists in
September, 1996 and the owners are threatening to auction the
contents if
the State of Illinois refuses to purchase the property.)
Equality served as
county seat from 1827 to 1847.
- Some prominent early Gallatin County names were Logsdon, Posey,
Wilson,
Brinkley, Wargel and West. Prominent journalist Robert Green
Ingersoll
moved to Shawneetown in 1836. Many of the early settlors are
buried in
Westwood Cemetery, located between Old and New Shawnee.
- Several factors led to the decline of Gallatin County: The
closure of the
salt works in 1873, improvements in rail transportation, the
decline of
immigration to Southern Illinois, the depletion of nearby
resources, and
most especially, major floods of the Ohio River, most recently
in 1898,
1913, and 1937. The great flood of 1937, which paralyzed much
of the
midwest, inundated the earthen levy started in 1859 and improved
after every
subsequent flood, and destroyed most of the records in the
Gallatin County
Courthouse, even though they had been carried to the second
floor for
safety. The misery caused by the winter flood was too much:
Most of the
town moved to higher ground, creating the current city of (New)
Shawneetown
and the decaying village of Old Shawneetown, consisting of a few
taverns,
the two bank buildings, and about 350 residents attracted by the
town's
outlaw reputation.
- The first bank building was moved off the levy and restored by
the Gallatin
County Historical Society in 1974, while the State of Illinois
seems to hope
that the second bank will fall in before it can be
restored.
- To the north of Shawneetown, Irish families, led by General
Michael Kelly
Lawler, established Pond Settlement around 1820, and later
Ridgway, built
along the railroad right-of way and now the county's second
city. Ridgway,
home of Blevins Popcorn Company, proclaims itself "Popcorn
capital of the
world" each September during the annual Popcorn Day
festival.
- Gallatin County currently is home to approximately 8000
residents in its
324 square miles. Some former county settlements were Gold Hill,
Bowlesville, Saline Mines, Crawford, Doherty, Dorsey Valley and
Elba. Tiny
New Haven and Omaha exist on the northern border of the county
near White
County, and Junction is located on the southern section. The
history of
the county is the subject of a beautiful mural in the Gallatin
County
Courthouse in Shawneetown. A revised county history was
published in 1986,
edited by Lucille Lawler, and includes several entries for the
following
names: Winters, Abell, Moye, Vickery, Spivey, Skaggs, Sheets,
Downen,
Skates and Rister.
- This History Article Courtesy of Cindy Birk Conley
Cindy Birk Conley
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