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Calhoun
County, like Jo Daviess County in northwest Illinois, is unique in the state in
that glaciers didn’t touch it and therefore has a more rugged terrain that is
dissected by valleys than the generally flat terrain associated with the rest of
Illinois. Calhoun County is also located at the tip of the peninsula formed by
the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and is almost completely surrounded by
water. Often referred to as the ‘Kingdom’, Calhoun County is sparsely
populated with only 5 incorporated towns. Human
habitation of Calhoun County dates back as far as the Early Archaic era (6400
– 3900 B.C.E.) and many have termed the area the "Nile of North America."
Kampsville is centered in the heart of this remarkable archeological region and
the archeologists and students of the Center for American Archeology spend their summers conducting digs and fieldwork. There are also
many mounds dating from the Middle Woodland era (800 – 1200 A.D.) that have been
located in different parts of the county. When the French explorers Louis Joliet
and Jacques Marquette passed by Calhoun County in 1673 the Illini Confederation
occupied the territory. The Illini were a woodland people who alternated between
farming and hunting depending on the season and located their villages in river
valleys to take advantage of the soil conditions. The power of the Illini was on
the wane in the late 17th century due to pressure from surrounding tribes
particularly by the Iroquois from the east. There are historical accounts of a
massacre near the present day site of the Brussels Free Ferry in 1680 and over
the last 75 years farmers plowing their fields in this area have found skulls, skeletons, and
weapons. The
first permanent European settler was a French trapper named O’Neal who settled
in Point Precinct (the southern tip of Calhoun County) in 1801 and lived in a
cave until his death in 1842. O’Neal was followed by other French trappers who
started a colony above the Brussels Free Ferry but were driven out by floods in
1815. After the war of 1812 the government set aside the lands between the
Mississippi and Illinois Rivers for veterans and a rush of settlers began around
1823. However most of the land settled in Calhoun County was not by veterans,
most of who sold their land to speculators, but by settlers who learned about
the region. In 1821 Pike County was organized and included all the territory
between the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers up to the Wisconsin border and east
to Lake Michigan. In 1825 the southern part of Pike County was cut off and made
into a separate county. The new county was named after John C. Calhoun, a
lawyer, politician, and statesman, from South Carolina and Gilead was selected
as the county seat. In 1847 the county seat was moved to Child’s Landing, now
known as Hardin. Calhoun
County’s earliest industry was lumbering and it remained its primary industry
for the first 50 years of the county’s existence. It was said that nearly
everyone in the county was involved in the trade in one form or another, either
buying, selling, cutting, or boating staves or cordwood, or getting out and
rafting logs. Even farmers would make staves or cut cordwood during the winter
to sell in the summer. Because money was scarce at the time merchants would
accept cordwood, poles, or staves in exchange for goods and supplies and a
common sign for a store was “Cordwood on the Bank a Legal Tender.” Farms and
orchards were the other important means of income at the time. By 1875 orchards
had grown to become a very important part of the financial community. The hills,
bluffs, and the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers help to moderate the climate in
southern Illinois, creating microclimates that protect orchards from drastic
temperature fluctuations. A third of Illinois’ substantial peach crop is grown
in Calhoun County alone! As
it was with all communities along the Mississippi River steamboats were
essential to Calhoun County in its early years. The first record of a steamboat
visiting Calhoun County is when the “Utility” stopped at Twichell’s
Landing in 1831. Steamboat traffic was at its height around the Civil War with
dozens of steamers passing each day. Unlike other communities who began to
rely primarily on the railroad Calhoun County would rely on steamboats until the
mid 1920s when the Chicago and Alton Railroad completed a branch line to East
Hardin in Jersey County and the first hard roads were connecting Hardin and the
outside world. In 1931 the Joe Page Bridge in Hardin was completed, it being the
only bridge in Calhoun County crossing either the Mississippi or Illinois Rivers. Currently the
bridge and four ferries are used to get to and from Calhoun County. Calhoun is a favorite destination for people looking for a day trip and get away from the hustle and bustle of urban environments. The lack of easy transportation into Calhoun County has meant that the county has always been sparsely populated allowing it to retain the feeling of a small but active agricultural community of the late 19th and early 20th century and has allowed four ferries to prosper.
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