Old Shawneetown Bank a Must-See Historical Site
Ohio River Town in Southern Illinois Flourished in Early 1800s
Oct 7, 2008
Shawneetown's written history goes back to 1765, when a British diplomatic expedition led by Colonel George Croghan camped at the site known as the "Old Shawnee Village" on its mission to establish more friendly relations with chiefs of the local Indian tribes. By 1810, the site had some 40 log cabins as well as a solid brick home, built by John Marshall on land his father, still living in Ireland, had purchased about 1800.
Shawneetown Refused to Finance Chicago Development
Shawneetown locals like to boast of the time back in the beginning of the nineteenth century when a pair of bankers came south on horseback, a trip of nearly 360 miles, to seek funding for their infant settlement on the shore of Lake Michigan. Investors in the thriving river town, where the first bank in Illinois was chartered in 1812, refused to buy these first municipal bonds issued by what would become the great City of Chicago. Their reasoning: the new village was too far from Shawneetown to ever amount to anything.
Visitors to Old Shawneetown today might wonder what delusions the town's early financiers were suffering. With a population last counted at less than 300 souls, this old river town was once the focus of trade, banking, and government administration for the Northwest Territory, a huge central portion of the United States. Now, the town's wide main street has more empty lots than viable businesses.
Old Shawneetown Bank
One icon of the town's former grandeur remains, the old Shawneetown Bank building, a soaring example of Greek Revival architecture that is now preserved as a State of Illinois Historical Site. Built over a period of three years beginning in 1839 to house the Bank of Illinois, the edifice housed a number of banks from its opening in 1841 until it closed for the last time in 1942.
The brick structure with its imposing limestone facade was once covered with graffiti at its highest levels by vandals in boats that were lifted by the 1937 flood of the Ohio River. The exterior of the building has since been cleaned and restored by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which maintains the property.
In 1972, the Shawneetown Bank was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, the interior of the bank building is no longer open for public tours.
First Bank in Illinois
Another historical site, where the first bank in Illinois opened in 1812, is just down the levee from the old bank building. The 1808 John Marshall House, the third oldest brick building in Illinois, once had a grand river view from a porch built out onto the levee. Today, one can see the remnants of its foundation amid rubble along the foot of the levee on the town side. A reconstructed brick house and museum now stands on the site.
Sources
Davidson, Alexander, and Bernard Stuvé. A Complete History of Illinois from 1673 to 1873: Embracing the Physical Features of the Country; Its Early Explorations; Aboriginal Inhabitants; French and British Occupation; Conquest by Virginia; Territorial Condition, and the Subsequent Civil, Military and Political Events of the State. Springfield: Phillips, 1877.
Drury, John. Old Illinois Houses. Occasional Publications of the Illinois State Historical Society. Ed. Jay Monaghan. Springfield: State of Illinois, 1948.
Musgrave, Jon. Handbook of Old Gallatin County. Marion, IL: IllinoisHistory.com, 2004.
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