Riddle Hill, Illinois

Riddle Hill is a rural unincorporated community located in Curran and Woodside townships, Sangamon County, Illinois. It is a crossroads located adjacent to where Old Jacksonville Road crosses Little Spring Creek, 6.5 miles west of Springfield.[1]

History

Old Jacksonville Road is one of the oldest roads in central Illinois; it is a traditional route between Jacksonville and the state capital of Springfield. Starting as early as the 1830s, travelers used the place where this road forded the creek as a campground, and the community grew from there.

On the night of September 28–29, 1838, participants in the 850-member Potawatomi Trail of Death encamped here on their forced march from Indiana to a portion of the unorganized western territory of the United States that would later be organized as Kansas Territory. A roadside historical marker has been erected on or near the site of their campground. The camping place is identified as 'McCoy's Mill', apparently recalling the name of a gristmill on Little Spring Creek at the ford.[2]

On July 4, 1861, the 21st Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, en route to service in the American Civil War, camped here for its first night in the field since mustering into federal service in Springfield. The new regiment's fledgling colonel, Ulysses S. Grant, issued his first written orders here. A historical marker in the yard of the New Salem Methodist Church commemorates the site of a now-vanished tree that marked the campsite.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Illinois Atlas and Gazetteer. Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping. 1991. ISBN 0-89933-213-7.
  2. ↑ "Historic Marker Ahead: Potawatomi Trail of Death". New Berlin Area Historical Society. Retrieved 2011-06-02.
  3. ↑ "Ulysses S. Grant Marker in Springfield, Illinois". Springfield Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution. Retrieved 2011-06-02.

Coordinates: 39°47′12″N 89°45′52″W / 39.78667°N 89.76444°W / 39.78667; -89.76444

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/8/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.