Millville is a defunct settlement in

Jo Daviess County Jo Daviess County () is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it had a population of 22,678. Its county seat is Galena. Jo Daviess County is part of the Tri-State Area and is located near D ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rockf ...

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 territori ...

, located within the boundaries of Apple River Canyon State Park. Founded in 1835 and platted in 1846, the community was washed away completely by a flood in 1892. No visible remnants of its structures remain today. The site of Millville was added to the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as the Millville Town Site in 2003.

Location

Millville was located in what is today the Apple River Canyon State Park, its physical address is within the village of Apple River. The canyon is a deep gorge carved by the Apple River when its course was diverted during the

Illinoian Stage The Illinoian Stage is the name used by Quaternary geologists in North America to designate the period c.191,000 to c.130,000 years ago, during the middle Pleistocene, when sediments comprising the Illinoian Glacial Lobe were deposited. It precedes ...

132,000–300,000 years ago. The old river channel eventually filled and became the South Fork Apple River. Millville was located at the confluence of these two rivers; the site is marked by a large rock formation and two plaques.

History

Millville was initially established in 1835 along the northern Chicago-Galena stagecoach route, a roadway today known as the

Stagecoach Trail Stagecoach Trail is a historic route through northern Jo Daviess County and western Stephenson County, in the northwest of Illinois. The trail was a part of the larger Galena–Chicago trail that crossed almost the entire state. Stagecoach Tra ...

. John R. Smith and the Burbridge family were responsible for the village's first buildings and a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

was erected between 1835–36. It developed as an important rural service stop along that stagecoach route. Millville was significant in the early history of

, serving as a civic and commercial hub from 1838–53. According to 1878's ''The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois'' the town itself was platted on April 14, 1846 within Rush Township by John R. Smith. Millville faced decline after the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s entered Jo Daviess County during the 1850s. Still, the town served as a minor commercial center for several decades after.Stratton, Christopher.
Millville Town Site
" ( PDF), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, September 16, 2002, ''Illinois Historic Preservation Agency'', accessed April 30, 2008. In 1853–54 the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

bypassed Millville relegating it to a future as a "backwater town". Despite this, two prominent commercial operations remained in business into the late 19th century, the

grist mill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist i ...

and a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such as gates, gr ...

shop. The blacksmith shop, eight buildings, two homes and a school are shown in town maps as late as 1872. The town's fate was sealed by a June 1892

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

which reportedly swept away all of the town's remaining buildings, leaving no trace of Millville in its wake. Heavy rains swelled the pond at the Cox Mill, ¼ mile from Millville, causing the mill dam to burst. The

mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the c ...

waters tore down Clear Creek and poured into the South Fork Apple River, rushing toward Millville. The town's buildings, unable to withstand the deluge, were swept away by the violent river.

Demographics and cityscape

By 1847 a large grist mill was constructed in the town, replacing the earlier saw mill. Other businesses were established in what had become a thriving wayside stop with the stagecoach line running directly through it. A Mr. Dean owned a blacksmith shop, a John W. Marshall started a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...

store, another resident, Eldridge Howard built a large house and opened a

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern t ...

within it. At its height, Millville was the only settlement of significance between Freeport and Galena.''The History of Jo Daviess County, Illinois, Containing a History of the County — Its Cities, Towns, Etc.'',
Google Books
, H.F. Kett & Co., Chicago: 1878, pp. 574–82. The most concentrated part of town was laid out on the flood plain at the rivers' confluence, other structures were built along the bluffs flanking the river. Millville covered and consisted of about 10 blocks, approximately laid out in a north-south grid. 1840 census figures show a population of 62, though local historians have given estimates for the late 1830s at 330, a number that likely included surrounding rural farms.Historic Millville, Apple River Canyon State Park, Jo Daviess County
", ( PDF,

brochure A brochure is originally an informative paper document (often also used for advertising) that can be folded into a template, pamphlet, or leaflet. A brochure can also be a set of related unfolded papers put into a pocket folder or packet or can ...

), ''

Illinois Department of Natural Resources The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...

'', accessed April 30, 2008. The 1850 census provides little illumination about the number of people in Millville. Through the census information, however, 27 households can be derived, as well as the place of origin for many of those heads of households as well as their occupations. Settlers in Millville originated in 11 different states with

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

and New York being the most common, only three were native Illinoisians, and one was foreign-born. Of the 1850 population of Millville, 19 people were engaged in commercial or trade occupation, 17 were farmers or laborers and at least 6 were involved in

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

mining.

Archaeological investigation

Multiple archaeological surveys have taken place at the Millville site. One such survey occurred when the

Illinois Department of Transportation The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

(IDOT) prepared to replace an old bridge across the South Fork Apple River within the state park. An archaeological team, from the Resource Investigation Program at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

, reported a buried layer of top soil about 70–80 cm beneath the surface with extensive 19th century

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

s and mortar as well as an area of stone that may have been part of a building foundation. The team determined that the building of the bridge would disturb the site and recommended further survey, no other work was done at the right-of-way, and IDOT approved the project in December 1991. Today, the site is open to the public and marked by a plaque; visitors to Apple River Canyon are allowed to walk about the site and even picnic. However,

metal detector A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

s and artifact removal are not allowed, and the town site is protected by state and federal law.

Significance

Millville was an important town along the stagecoach route from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to Galena, as such it played an important early role in the history of Jo Daviess County. The town site is an archaeologically important site that surveys have shown to be in good condition. Artifacts recovery at the site in the future has the potential to yield new information about the day to day habits of those living in Millville. For these reasons the Millville Town Site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 3, 2003.

References

External links

Property Information Report
Millville Town Site,

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...

{{authority control Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Geography of Jo Daviess County, Illinois Ghost towns in Illinois Populated places established in 1846 1846 establishments in Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Jo Daviess County, Illinois Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois