Lakeview is an unincorporated predominantly African American community in the Carrier Mills township, Saline County, Illinois, United States. Lakeview was originally called "The Pond Settlement." It was named after the

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

swampland and wetlands that surrounds the area of Carrier Mills. It is one of the oldest settlements in Illinois, and holds the oldest predominantly African American cemetery in Illinois. Similar to the

Maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

Communities in Louisiana, it is the oldest community in Illinois founded by

runaway slaves In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery in the United States, slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, Fugitive Slave ...

. The community is drained by the Saline River Lakeview was established as a

Freedmen's town In the United States, a freedmen's town was an African American municipality or community built by freedmen, former slaves who were emancipated during and after the American Civil War. These towns emerged in a number of states, most notably Texas ...

by a group of African-American

Runaway Slave In the United States, fugitive slaves or runaway slaves were terms used in the 18th and 19th century to describe people who fled slavery. The term also refers to the federal Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793 and 1850. Such people are also called free ...

s and

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

who migrated from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

shortly after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. They arrived between 1818 and 1820. This area had been ideal for the Native Americans who had lived, hunted, fished, and farmed this region. Around 1800, however, most of the Native American families there had contracted

Small Pox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) cer ...

and were all but wiped out. According to one account, only 13 Native American families remained and they welcomed the freedmen with open arms. Census records indicate that the first settlers were the Allen, Blackwell, Taborn, Mitchell, Evans, Cofield, and Cole Families. These earliest Lakeview residents were mostly self-sufficient. They depended on a mixture of hunting and farming for their food. The early families had substantial land holdings in the Pre-

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

era. It was only after the village of Morrillsville, later known as Carrier Mills, was established that some of these holdings were sold off. Whites continued to buy land around Lakeview during the remainder of the nineteenth century, resulting in the breakup of the larger land holdings. Never a formal community or village, Lakeview covered a series of farmsteads concentrated about ; however, the focus of the settlement has always been on the church and school, along what was is now Taborn Road. Lakeview had its own school and grocery store along with many homes. In 1850, a Union Church was established near Carrier Mills in Saline County. Most members were either Baptist or Methodist. An

African Methodist Episcopal The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexional polity. The African Methodist Episcopal ...

Church was organized at the home of Irvin Allen, who then built a one-room log church building on his property. Later they organized and built a frame structure on the M. Taylor farm. After the church burned they rebuilt and moved the church to Carrier Mills where it sits today. This congregation is now Baber Chapel AME Church. The Lakeview cemetery, founded in 1838, has become a state historical landmark. The area of Lakeview is still nearly 100% black. After the closing of the Lakeview school in the 1950s, many people moved to the east side of Carrier Mills. Descendants of Lakeview have continued to hold an annual community reunion at the cemetery on

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

for decades, a tradition dating to the 19th century. Deputy Royce E. Cline was the only police officer to die in the line of duty in Saline County. He was shot and killed by a suspected bootlegger in the "pond settlement" on Friday, August 14, 1925. In 2022 a preliminary application for a federal historical designation district was submitted by Lakeview descendant Brendan Jennings. The Saline County Tourism Board voted to create a committee to spearhead the project. https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/lake-view-community-members-spend-memorial-day-honoring-veterans-and-ancestors/article_46b93842-fe65-11ed-9550-2b41dc730cdc.html

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{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Saline County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois Populated places established in 1818 African-American historic places

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