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Visitors Guide to
Camp Point & Clayton
Adams County, Illinois |
Camp Point
The railroad industry and
farmers formed the basis of the early settlement. The community was
originally called "Garrett's Mill" after the mill erected by Peter
B. Garrett in 1844. In 1855, Garrett, together with Benjamin Booth,
Thomas Bailey and William Farlow, chartered the town as "Indian Camp
Point".
Camp Point marked its centennial with a
week-long celebration in 1955, proud of its growth and pledged to
continued prosperity. Its civic groups have maintained active
memberships that span many years. Families have called it home for
many generations. A number of businesses can trace their origins to
the early years. Today, Camp Point is a quiet village with over
1,200 people and over 75 businesses, located in Eastern Adams County
in Illinois.
Clayton
Obediah Hicks is credited with being the pioneer
of the township settling in the area with his family in 1829. He was
followed by other settlers including three McCoy brothers, Charles,
Rev. Reuben K. and John. The McCoys laid out the Village of Clayton,
in the summer of 1834, naming it in honor of Henry Clay, the great
statesman and orator from Kentucky. The town began growing acquiring
a general store and inn by 1836 although the growth was slow until
the arrival of the Wabash Railway Branch in 1856. Clayton is an
incorporated village and its attractive town hall was erected in
1887.
Clayton is approximately 12 miles north of Siloam Springs State
Park. The Rev. Reuben K. McCoy discovered the springs following the
Civil War and legend has it that spring water had a medicinal
effect. The area was given the name Siloam Springs, a Biblical
reference to the Pool of Siloam which is mentioned in the Gospel of
John, as the location to which Jesus sent a man who had been blind
from birth, as part of the act of healing him. In the 1880s a local
businessman, Quincy Burgesser, capitalized on the mineral properties
of the water and touted the water's ability to cure almost all
ailments. After Burgesser erected two spring houses, a bathing
house, and the Siloam Forest Home Hotel the area became a popular
and fashionable resort. Bottling water from the No. 2 spring became
a flourishing business for several decades. In 1935, the Siloam
Springs Recreation Club purchased the site in an effort to restore
it and in 1940 the site became a state recreation. In the 1950s an
earthen dam was constructed across a deep ravine and the 58-acre
lake was created. In 1956 Siloam Springs was dedicated as a state
park.
www.claytonil.com
The
official site of the Village of Clayton.
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