Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Eight
ILLINOIS 1937
Founded in 1810, Shawneetown was the first town chartered in Illinois and was home to the
state's first bank. Regularly victimized by flooding, the thriving river port responded by
building a series of higher and higher levees. By the 1930s, the town felt safe behind a
60-foot levee. Then came 1937, when the river poured over the levee and swamped the town,
including the Gallatin County Courthouse (shown here). At that point, most of the disgusted
townspeople packed up and moved three miles north to build a new Shawneetown. The area
they left is now known as Old Shawneetown.
