SHAWNEETOWN was the first town in Illinois. It's on the Ohio River. Was a major emigration point of entry into the territory (southern Illinois)for folks coming by water and via the Wilderness Road (Kentucky). The rivers were the highway into the interior of the unknown continent then. In 1937 the huge flood just about wiped out the town so it was moved 3 miles further inland. But the old Shawneetown, with many buildings and the huge old bank (complete with pillars) is STILL THERE. It's worth the trip if you get close---so much history there. The SHAWNEE FERRY ran there for 150 years---until the 1950s when a bridge was built. An old story is that folks from the northern part of the territory (not yet a state) went to the bank there for a loan to further a small development up in the N. area. They were refused the loan because "Chicago was too far away from Shawneetown to ever amount to anything!"

STATE OF ILLINOIS (a theme song of mine for many years. Is traditional.)

Way down upon the Wabash such a land was never known,
If Adam had crossed over it this land he'd surely known,
He'd say it was the garden he'd lived in as a boy
And straightway call it Eden in the state of Illinois

Ch) So move your family westward-bring all your girls and boys,
And cross the Shawnee Ferry to the state of Illinois.

She's bounded by the Wabash, Mississippi and the Lakes,
There's milk sick in the on thr prairie--and in the swamps there's snakes,
But these are slight diversions that take not from the joys
Of living in that garden spot called the state of Illinois.

CH) So move your family westward--bring all your girls and boys
And rise to wealth and honor in the state of Illinois.

It was here the queen of Sheba came with solomon of old,
With a wagon load of spices, pomegranates and fine gold
But when she saw that lovely land her heart was full of joy
Straightway she said , I'd like to be a queen in Illinois."

Way up in the nothland upon the border line,
Agreat commercial city, Chicago, you will find,
Her men are all like Abelard---her women like Heloise,
All honest, virtuous people 'cause they live in Illinois.

Way up in the north