Skip to main content

Old Shawneetown, Illinois

Image
By
A river town always has its risks. A series of floods, or one bad flood, can devastate an entire community.

Main Street - Old Shawneetown. Hogdaddy's Saloon - an attraction for local motorcyclists that is now closed.

Old Shawneetown, Illinois is located on the north shore of the Ohio River in Southern Illinois and is the oldest town in the state.  Shawneetown dates to the original Northwest Territory; it was surveyed, platted, and chartered by the United States Government. The settlement served as a key government administrative outpost for the Northwest Territory.

Shawneetown's location on the Ohio River made it an important commerce center in the early 19th century. Shawneetown was where Illinois's first bank chartered in 1816.  The river helped Shawneetown grow to over 1800 residents by the early 20th century. But that same river would unfortunately lead to its demise.

Damage to Shawneetown after the Great Flood of 1937. Of the 400 buildings that were in the town limits, only 20 were still habitable after the floodwaters receded. (Russell Lee - Library of Congress)

Three major floods between 1884 and 1913 impacted the town. But it was the Great Flood of 1937 that would ultimately change Shawneetown.  The floodwaters submerged nearly the entire community under 15 feet of water - residents who escaped the flooding would find their homes and businesses destroyed.

Shawneetown flood refugees lived in a nearby tent city. Many of these residents would relocate to the new Shawneetown - located four miles west - in the upcoming years. (Russell Lee - Library of Congress)

The damage initiated a relocation of most of the town. Four miles inland and west on Highway 13, a new Shawneetown was created.  With state and federal government funding, the new town was laid out. The Gallatin County Courthouse moved to the new Shawneetown, along with most of the community's residents and businesses.  By 1950, over three-quarters of Shawneetown had moved west.  The old town became 'Old Shawneetown.'

An old Texaco filling station in Old Shawneetown.

Since 1950, Old Shawneetown's population has continued to decline - only 113 residents as of the 2020 Census.  Slowly but surely, most of the town's homes were abandoned and eventually destroyed.  The town's once-bustling Main Street sits empty, with a few buildings remaining.  In 1955, the Shawneetown Bridge carrying Illinois Route 13 into Kentucky eliminated the former Ohio River ferry that had a landing in Old Shawneetown.  The absence of regular traffic served as another blow to the town.

The 1841 Bank of Illinois building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is an Illinois State Historic Site. It is an impressive landmark,

The former Bank of Illinois building is one of the few original Old Shawneetown structures standing. Finished in 1841, the magnificent five-column Greek Revival brick and limestone landmark is now a state historic site. The bank building housed several different banks until ending functional operation after the Great Flood.

Main Street - Old Shawneetown.  There once were numerous storefronts in the empty space between the two buildings.

Visiting Old Shawneetown today is quiet but not eerie.  As you stand on an empty main street, it is easy to imagine a bustling river community - the wide avenue filled with shops, cars, and pedestrians going about their day.  What remains of Old Shawneetown is a glimpse into the past - and our imagination fills in the rest.

All photos taken by post author - February 19, 2024 - unless otherwise noted.

Sources & Links:
How To Get There:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more