A Forgotten Town in Southern Illinois & its history 

Oh yeah, you missed it at Hogdaddy's. I was an old abandoned hardware store IIRC. It may have later been a bar too, but I'm not positive. At any rate, a guy got a grant, tore out the floor, poured a slab, had a roof put on, and opened up as a biker bar. We would ride down on Saturdays or Sundays, and have a couple. The back was added on, with a kitchen. They had really good food, some of the best burgers, HUGE shrimp, steaks and such. It has a loft that is open in the middle to the main floor. The bar next door was opened later. You are correct that they were biker oriented. For several years they would have a street party/rally, at the same time as the Little Sturgis Rally across the river in Sturgis Kentucky. It was usually a week or so before the big Sturgis rally in South Dakota. Some riders would stop at Little Sturgis on the way to big Sturgis, and, rather than fight the crowds, a lot of local Southern Illinois riders would just camp at Old Town. They had bands, food vendors, rally events, even a mechanical bull in the middle of the floor in Hogdaddys. Imagine the street lined with bikes and a line of bikes parked in the middle of the street, tents and campers in the "park" area. It was a lot of fun. Not sure exactly why it fizzled out over time. The same guy I think still has the Hogrock rally in the spring, and at least use to have Hogrocktoberfest in the fall. It is on his property a few miles away. You're bringing back a lot of good memories with this one Sally.....

I never lived in Shawneetown, but I worked there for a while as well as the surrounding areas, and live nearby. Southern Illinois is a forgotten part of America for several reasons. #1, Chicago. They consume the state in all aspects of media coverage and "Imprtance" so to see this video is amazing to me. #2, Its not relevant anymore. Coal mines, salt slicks, and the rivers that cross through aren't used as much due to trains and truck fleets, and the coal mines closing down don't need the river traffic anymore. And lastly, people are all in cities now, they don't understand the history of what this country was built on. Folks like me who live here are 'uneducated hicks and country folks' they say. But, towns like Shawnee and the surrounding are were the foundation they look down on now that its not as populated, when it should be celebrated.

During flooding in the early 1990’s, I took a group of students from a community college where I worked to Old Shawneetown to sandbag. We worked alongside a group of prisoners from a nearby state prison. The prisoners worked hard, were good company, and were ready to get on with their lives. Our students learned a lot about the Ohio River, Old Shawneetown, and empathy for others. I still have a warm spot for Old Shawneetown.

Grew up in new town, and still only live 20 minutes away, pops still lives there. Inside Layton’s they used to have everyone sign the walls with markers, 2011 floods sandbagged the heck out of the town, caught the mayors white donkey, and have roamed those streets like crazy as a child walking to the levee to fish as a kid. It’s a shame people don’t realize how much outside of Chicago there is in Illinois.

Marquis De Lafayette was a french general who trained American soldiers during the American revolution. Lafayette visited the cemetery in Shawneetown to pay his respects to his deceased friend Brigadier General Thomas Posey who was in the American Revolution.

Keep in mind, the reason that these early centers of commerce in Illinois and other states were built in a flood zone, was the fact that most all commerce and travel was by the rivers and waterways. Not till the Rail Roads came into the fore front, every one traveled by boat. Hence the reason they built up on the river bank. This small rement of town was still quite active till the last series of major floods in 93 and 95 pretty much destroyed it for good. Those abandoned buildings you show were victims of those floods and those fire trucks as well.

I am the treasurer for the John Marshall house bank and museum. Sally we would love to have you come back to Old Shawneetown and we can give you a tour of the town and tell you what all those wonderful things are

Towns like this and others you visited in Southern Illinois demonstrate how much the state has changed their focus from the southern part of the state to Chicago over many decades. There is significant history to the state of Illinois in that area. Little or no real effort gets put into capturing the history of the architecture or really capturing the story of what was. And obviously there is little preservation effort going on as most of the money for things like that isn't available directly in these areas and are instead spent about 300 miles to the North. Not that all of it is worth saving, but shouldn't some of it be worth a long-term effort? Sad to say, but go see it before it isn't there... and thanks for the video.

Hi I the president of the Gallatin County Historical Society. The texco sign is original. The round rings along the sidewalk is to tie up your horse.

Another important thing is that the Trail of Tears went through Shawnee Town. The Cherokee had to cross the Ohio River during winter.

My father was born in that town and to be moved out during the flood. He was only five years old. He grew in “New Town” in a house moved from “Old Town”,

Another interesting thing my gma told me was that when Chicago was first getting started, they reached out to Old Shawneetown for financial assistance. Old Town didn’t bother to help because Chicago was too far from the river to ever flourish as a city.

I had relatives that ran a small grocery store in town, probably 100 hundred years ago. And still have many in the new Shawneetown. Also the lines on the pillars of the bank pillars show the height of the flooding. The cemetery is an interesting place to visit too.

I read that either one man or two men wanted to open up a trading post at Fort Dearborn which was located in Chicago by Michigan Ave and the Chicago River. They went to a bank in Shawneetown to get a loan to start the business, but were turned down. The reason was that the banker thought that the area ( what was to become Chicago ) was too far off and that nothing was ever to become of that area.

Thank you for this. Reminds me of growing up in Alton, along with the Illinois, Missouri and Ole Miss rivers. A great place to live and grow post WWII. Cities and small towns like these, to me are so sad looking but it is what it is.

It’s good to see Cave in Rock, Old Shawneetown. I’m from southern Illinois. Your historic videos with a comedic twist are most enjoyable! 😄

My grandma is in her early 90s and she grew up there. She used to drive us out there and show us the waterlines on the bank and we would stop and eat at Rudy’s in New Town on the way out. Pretty much all the locals refer to the area as ‘Old Town’ and ‘New Town’. My Grandma used to tell me stories of Charlie Birger and his gang. My husband has roots that go pretty deep in this town as well. Great Video!

I attended Southern Illinois University in 71 and 76. One of the most interesting courses was Illinois History taught by the famous history (Civil War, Lincoln and Grant) professor John Simon. I loved him. A very large well spoken story teller that when class was over I noticed I hadn’t taken any notes. Anyway, a lot of very interesting southern Illinois history.

Being from a smaller island, UK, I has never considered the need for salt when there’s no close sea. Fascinating little town.

My grandpas was born and raised here. His family ran a grocery store on the main drag. He was born in 1938, one year after the flood.

I’m from that area. The history you presented was spot on. You should check out Cave-in-Rock. There was a move scene shot there from How The West Was Won.

Sally I am very happy to see that your great little channel is finally starting to get the views it deserves! Congratulations on your recent success, you deserve it.

Another fun look at another great piece of our history. The bank building is 😍. That iron work is next level. I have seen many an old building in the US and Europe, but whoever did that work was a master among masters. I found the "death" of the old town very sad. My late mother was in the 1937 flood, in Cincinnati. She was 12. She remembered her and her twin sister being rescued from their second story window by some neighbors who had a rowboat. I am amazed at how many places one finds the Shawnee. Aside from Oklahoma, where they were relocated, one finds them in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I always thought of them as a more Eastern tribe. My great x 5 grandmother Rachel Crafton was Shawnee. She was the daughter of celebrated Chief Cornstalk. She married a white man who was a storekeeper by trade. She lived from 1764 to 1843 and had a lot of children. She died and was buried in Northeast Indiana. I also enjoyed the spiders! My last name means that I was at times called Spider. I learned what amazing creatures they are. I never kill a spider unless it is venomous to humans. I really would love to visit Old Shawneetown. I might never leave. 😉

How I wish you could have visited on a day when the Old bank, the Old St mary's Catholic church Museum, and the Historical Society at the John Marshall Bank was open. The Church is owned by the State of Illinois, but there is a museum inside that is open some during the summer months. I think the same is true for the John Marshall Bank, operated by the Historical Society and open some Sundays year round. The large bank has been open on occasion and is something to see. Also the old Slave house where the saltworks were located. Another property the State of IL bought and closed.

My band played HogDaddy's so many times. We had a blast!! Great video

These places are stomping grounds for me..as I'm from southern Illinois. Down by the levee area ...on the river bank used to be (maybe still is) an old marooned tug boat. Been yrs. since I've been around there. Video brings memories.👍

that is the authentic Texaco rural gas station architecture and color scheme so the sign goes w it

Love your curiosity and informed but natural commentary, so hard to do when you're filming & know people will be watching. You both are great.

I grew up in a small town not far from there...Equality. Very close to Old Saltwell hollow road where you saw the salt spring. My dad also farmed ground on that road. I have a lot of great memories from my hometown area. 🙂

My band, GYPSY CROSSING, played at Hogdaddy's and I can tell you, that place got Wound Up! There were bars on 2 levels, and more than once I saw people try to throw other people down the stairs. It was nothing short of a miracle that they didn't succeed. It was definitely an adventure to play there. One reason the bar got closed down was because the owner was forced to hire a bunch of bouncers every weekend just to maintain order and prevent murders.

I'm a history buff so I enjoyed this episode about Old Shawneetown

Back when Illinois was first being settled, you could buy a 99 year indentured servitude contract in Old Shawneetown for any slaves people brought into Illinois. Southern Illinois was one of the few places in Illinois that held any amount of slaves as most of its settlers came from Virginia and Kentucky, settlers who often would land in Old Shawneetown.

I’m from the area and have heard of shawneetown many times but I learned a lot from your video that i didn’t know before. Thank you for making history come alive!!!

Southern Illinois “little Egypt” was the gateway to west.

I actually lived here for a good amount of my life😃its cool seeing people actually look at this place and actually tell abt its history

Hope you both can keep doing this thank you

Another cool old southern town I think Marty's right about them old rings maybe they were to tie the horse and buggy our horses up so nice to look at them Old Towns how nice and peaceful they look today thanks for the video you too stay happy and safe 🏆🌺👍✌️

Such a shame that old buildings are seldom preserved. Thanks again for a wonderful tour!

There's a street view of Hogdaddy's on Google Earth when it was in business.

If you're still in the area, check out Kaskaskia. First Illinois State Capital, only part of Illinois west of the Mississippi. If you do, research the bridges - the bridge there is old and narrow. Cape Girardeau might be a better choice.

The History of Southern Illinois is a good and lengthy read. Most all of my ancestors grew up there including me; and, It is really amazing what all went on there through the years. I have been to Shawneetown and Cave In Rock many times.

I'm lucky enough to have been inside the bank. It also had living quarters in it and it was kind of creepy!

You should do a show on Grayville, IL on the Wabash River. Back in its hayday it was the capital of the oil boom. They would have Oil show there, and oil company executives from around the country would gather there to see all the newest equipment that was available.

This is immediately one of my favorite channels. This is what I love to do on my road trips too!

Wow, cool Town and history, built when there were not too many other towns to go to in Illinois. Another great video, oh and General Lafayette was a French Army Officer that fought on our side in the revolutionary war with some distinction I believe.

My parents were married in Shawnee Town back in the mid 1950s. It was a booming town back then. Sad nothing is kept up and cared for. Thank you for the video. Brought back memories.

I am from Portland, Oregon, and those sidewalk rings are definitely for tying up horses and livestock. Portland still has many of them around the city.

Look into Sailor Springs IL not real big but has quite a bit of history to and also Louisville IL and a man named Johnny Bob Harrell

I have been there! They have a motorcycle rally there! It’s awesome! We rode to little sturgis from there! Little Sturges was a dry county. So we left a little Sturgis and came back to old Shawnee town and we loved it.! That was a good time.

I have been through Shawneetown more times than I can count on the way to cross the bridge into Kentucky. You pass the turnoff to Old Shawneetown, though I never had a reason to go there. This reminds me of St. Johns, Illinois, which is on the north end of DuQuoin. At one time, it was bigger than DuQuoin. Now it's just a small community. DuQuoin was actually named after Chief Ducoigne. I don't know why they changed the spelling.

Thank you for the tour and history of Old Shawneetown. No offense to them but the oldest town in Illinois is Prairie du Rocher. It was settled in 1722 and celebrated 300 yrs. last July.

My Father's family was from that area. namely Bowelsville, which was just south around the south side of Gold Hill. They were charter members of the Ringold Church. (The Smyth, Spivey, Jolly, Waggoner, McGeehee families). It was such a thrill to do my family's genealogy years ago and visiting the Gallatin County Courthouse in search of records, which they have such awesome records. I would always end my day with a trip to Old Shawneetown and just walk around. There were many buildings still on the main street that are no longer there. There was a large hotel there known as the Riverside Hotel that was owned and operated by my Father's family years ago.

Love your videos Sally. I live in central IL, I’ve been enjoying the videos on southern IL. Marty rules!!

From Trinidad: Enjoyed sightseeing through this medium with the both of you. Can't wait to watch the next episode! Historical facts are interesting!

From the size of that bank you can tell it was a grand city at one time.

More and more of IL is fading away, due to taxing, and nobody seems to remember there is more to IL than Chicago....

Your Mocha is so cute. Another interesting old town, and Marty, it's not useless information, it's part of the historical story, not many knew that about the alarm, I didn't. Sally, have you ever heard of the movie called Porky's? That saloon called HogDaddy's could possibly be where the name for Porky's came from, who knows.😄

Some really beautiful old buildings there. What an interesting place. Would like to see it preserved.

My grandparents lived around 60 miles north of Shawnee Town. It was common if you had a nice home that happened to be built in a flood zone. They would move the house. There is a house down the street from me that was part of the Clay City Pure Oil camp. They moved the house from Clay City, IL to Flora, IL. That would be over 8 miles.

I live in Nason il (yee haw 🙄) it's another old mining town from the 1920s that has a population collapse when the mine closed, Nason is actually a city even though the population is under 200, Rend lake was created in the 70s which didn't help with the towns survival either being many of the folks out in the river bottoms surrounding Nason were forced to move, "progress" can be really hard on those who don't come from money 💰, seems like most progress overwhelmingly benefit's those who's hands have never gotten dirty or rough.

In Shawneetown, they open up the buildings once a year. Not all at once, but they will open the bank once a year, and the same for the Catholic Church. I actually have been in the church before. It was during Covid if I remember right.

You should visit Grayville illinois. A town that the River forgot. The river carved a new path away from downtown.

I like it when Marty joins in….

I wonder if Rantoul ever recovered when Chanute AFB became a Superfund site and the truth came out about how the base had poisoned the surrounding areas and was one of the first bases to use the chemicals eventually known as agent orange, which was created at the university in Champaign.

Found my new favorite history RU-vid channel. Thank you for y’all hard work. Please don’t stop.

Sally, you are terrific as a solo, but as a pair, you're terrificker (I know that's not a real word...perhaps it should be!). Love the dynamic you and Marty have. How do you find these wonderful places as well as the history behind them?🤔 Soooo interesting!

Glad to have found your Chanel. Lafayette was a French General ally to United States during the Revolutionary War. I’m in Havre de Grace, Maryland named by Lafayette.

Spent several years hauling coal to the river there. There's also a grain elevator or I guess it's still there I use to haul to. 1985 I turned over with a load of coal right there where you turn off route 13. And used to frequent the bars some. Brought back memories, thank you.

Nice job showing the town. I looked for a vintage air raid siren on ebay no luck though. It snowed pretty good up here, not sure if you are still down south or home. Stay safe and healthy!! The rings look like the old tie for a horse and buggy team.

Wow, it's truly amazing how much money went into making The First State Bank Of Illinois. This shows how important Banks were even over a hundred years ago. Makes you wonder, if a small town bank is doing so well, how were the banks in the City of Chicago doing?

It's a lot of towns around the world 🌎 that has been forgotten.

Thank for your video! Welcome ! Nice to meet you, Sally.♥️♥️.

Hi! I've got great photos from there a few weeks ago. Hope you went to the museum. Looks like you found the path behind it...that goes up to the bridge that goes over to KY.

Good to have Marty’s sharp eyes along.

Awesome video, this is one of the few small towns in Illinois I haven't been to. Definitely going to have to check it out.

Very interesting video, I have not seen one of those outside alarms for several years. It would be great if you could speak to a local when in the old towns for first hand info. Like the old filling station and more.

The rings are hitching rings for wagons, horses...

Loved it! Have you guys explored Grand Tower in Jackson County or Cobden in Union County?

I love the Texaco sign. Brings back memories of my childhood and my 20s.

Way to go Marty, you're full of useful information

In the early 70's, Old town was still pretty vibrant. My Father owned the insurance agency in New Town along with Ed Hines, a dear friend. They insured a lot of businesses in Old Town. There was a great little fresh fish market on the river owned by Mr. & Mrs. Durham. I dated their daughter and still to this day think she was the most beautiful girl in the world. I worked at the Eagle #2 coal mine and at that time, we all made a lot of money. Sad now as all of those better paying coal mining jobs are virtually disappeared. One of the best BBQ in the area was Rudy's BBQ in New Town owned by the infamous Rudy Phillips. He was a very notable "Hobo" back in the days and displays of his travels by rail while being a Hobo were all over his restaurant. I was great friends with his Son Joe Phillips who ended up in Harrisburg. I could go on and on and intend to upon retirement when I write my book. One last fact you didn't share was that after Miss O'Leary's cow burnt down the city of Chicago, they were looking to the First State Bank in Old Town for a loan to which they were rejected. Reason being that if a town isn't located on a river, it will never be successful.

My mom grew up in Shawneetown. She said when the flood happened they had to take a boat to get supplies. I lived in the nearby town of Ridgway. Years so my grandpa lived in a house right across from that old gas station.

Peabody Coal moved my husband there in 1978. My husband worked at Eagle II coal mine in New Shawnee-town. My best friend’s parents owned a bar in Old Shawnee town. It was so sad when they shut the coal mines down due to high sulfur coal the area went down hill. Many were left without jobs. We lived in Ridgway Illinois about ten miles from New Town. I miss the small town culture of people down there.

You do a great job bringing the history of Southern Illinois back to life!

I used to learn something new every day, today I learned burglar alarms go back way further than I thought. Thanks Marty, Thanks Sally! 👍👍👍 PS: it'd been nifty if yous would have shown us the insides of those abandoned houses but then I guess yous wouldn't wanna get shot!

My grandmother used to take me there to eat catfish. She never stopped talking about the flood. It’s a long way from Chicago. We were from Pontiac Michigan visiting Harrisburg where my grandfather was from she was from Eldarado. I was very young and always thought she was saying shanty town because of all the tin shacks. Only recently did I find out it was Shawnee town.

Bike rallies are annually in Old Shawneetown. That was the purpose of Hog Daddies I’ve been there many times when I lived in Ridgway, Illinois.

As someone from Chicago, I sincerely apologize that the rest of the state gets neglected for our abominable city. I'd burn it all to the ground if it meant these beautiful, old, historic towns could be preserved.

Glad that your dog; I'm like oh no, a lost or abandoned dog! Have you been to Anna? Very interesting and shameful history!

Marty adds a lot to your content. Keep up the good work!

Born and raised recons I'll die here. This has been an ever-changing never changing little river town just like any other no diff I'm sure

thank you for all you do! fascinating!

Sure do miss Rudy's. That one time Hobo sure could make some good BBQ. It wasn't the same after I heard he died and family took it over. Lots of fond memories for me. Thank you for a great video!

So glad to be able to see this post 😊

I visited Chester,IL to the west of there. Hometown of Popeye. Beautiful area.

Hogdaddys was something else! I spent some of my early twenties in there. Bras hanging from the ceilings. Stripper pole’s upstairs. Just use your imagination lol😂😂

That was a original Texaco station in Old Shawnee town when I was a kid in the 1960s

Go visit , Bement Milmine and Ivesdale Illinois or Monticello and White Heath.

Birmingham town hall …right there !

lived in Harrisburg years back. went to forestry school there. loved the year I spent. beautiful hilly forested land. lotta of the houses down there still heat with coal