Coltonville, Illinois
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Coltonville was a community in
DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missouri ...
,
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...


History

In June 1839, DeKalb County was considering building a
courthouse A courthouse or court house is a building that is home to a local court of law and often the regional county government as well, although this is not the case in some larger cities. The term is common in North America. In most other English-spe ...
and, as such, placement of a
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...
. Rufus Colton,
Clerk of the Court A court clerk (British English: clerk to the court or clerk of the court ; American English: clerk of the court or clerk of court ) is an officer of the court whose responsibilities include maintaining records of a court, administer oaths to witn ...
in the county, was leading a push for Coltonville, where he lived.Klein, Ron and McIntyre, Mac
Looking Back at the DeKalb County Courthouse
, DeKalb County Online, Retrieved January 13, 2007.
Through political wrangling, and underhanded techniques, Colton nearly led Coltonville into a new era as county seat. He had arranged for court to convene at his home, only after he had set up an election, as clerk, for county seat. The election was unique, in that, only the residents of Colton's choice for county seat, Coltonville, were informed of it. When the DeKalb County Court convened, in Colton's Coltonville home, the sheriff served a
court order A court order is an official proclamation by a judge (or panel of judges) that defines the legal relationships between the parties to a hearing, a trial, an appeal or other court proceedings. Such ruling requires or authorizes the carrying out o ...
which stated a courthouse was to be built in Sycamore, the city which would become the county seat. Even without the court order, Colton's actions would have never been deemed legal; they were eventually cancelled by an act of the
Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...
.History of DeKalb County Courthouse
, 16th Judicial Circuit, 2005, Retrieved January 13, 2007.
Along with Brush Point, the other community considered for county seat, both communities disappeared after losing out to Sycamore. Today, the town name lives on as Coltonville Road in southwestern Sycamore. The townsite lies in DeKalb Township, near the cities of DeKalb and Sycamore. The old Coltonville School was located at .


Notes

Ghost towns in Illinois Populated places in DeKalb County, Illinois {{US-ghost-town-stub