The New Philadelphia National Historic Site is the original site of the now-vanished town of New Philadelphia,

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 ...

. It is located near the city of

Barry Barry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barry (name), including lists of people with the given name, nickname or surname, as well as fictional characters with the given name * Dancing Barry, stage name of Barry Richards (born c. 19 ...

, in Pike County. Founded in 1836, New Philadelphia was the first town in the United States platted and registered by an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The founder,

Free Frank McWorter Free Frank McWorter (1777 – September 7, 1854) was an American born into slavery who bought his own freedom in Kentucky and in 1836 founded the town of New Philadelphia in Illinois; he was the first African American to found a town, and establis ...

(1777–1854), was a former

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

who was able to save money from work and his own business to purchase the freedom of himself, his wife, and over-time, 13 members of his family in

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 to ...

. Several of his freedom purchases were funded by the sale of New Philadelphia lots. The town was integrated and reached a population of about 160 near the close of the Civil War in 1865. A few years later, the town was bypassed by the railroad leading to its eventual decline; the town lots were generally turned into farmland in the late 19th century, although some survived into the 1920s. The town site was listed on the

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 v ...

in 2005, and designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 2009. In 2013, the site was added to the

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2022.

History

Free Frank McWorter moved to Illinois in 1830 with his family and founded a town, which he thought might benefit from increasing commerce in Illinois due to the planned

Illinois and Michigan Canal The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Po ...

. The original town plan consisted of 144 lots in a 12 x 12 square, including 22 crisscrossing named streets. McWorter officially registered his town with government authorities and sold the lots to both blacks and whites. The town was integrated, with blacks and whites involved together in community organizations, except only a typical 19th-century segregated cemetery. There was one integrated public school. McWorter lived there for the rest of his life, apart from brief visits to Kentucky to purchase freedom for much of the remainder of his family. These freedom purchases were largely financed by his sale of lots in New Philadelphia. McWorter died in 1854. Before the

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 ...

, New Philadelphia had become one of the stations along the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

for shepherding escaped slaves to Canada. Escapees from Missouri were known to swim the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

to reach the town. With

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranchis ...

, more settlers arrived in New Philadelphia. Its population peaked at close to 160 shortly after 1865. In 1869, the Hannibal and Naples Railroad was built. It bypassed the town on the north; a station was built in nearby

, soon to be followed by transit and commerce. New Philadelphia rapidly declined in population thereafter. A small number of residents turned to farming a portion of the former townsite. Such changes and abandonment were not unusual for U.S. small towns in the late 19th century, especially those bypassed by changing transportation facilities. In 1885 a portion of the town was legally dissolved. It reverted to farmland. Modern

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

studies discussed below indicate the area was inhabited through the 1920s. However, by the late 20th century, all vestiges of New Philadelphia had vanished save fragments of

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of ...

and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

, and traces of the town's

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

streets.

Excavation and preservation

In 2003, a three-year excavation began with a US$226,500 grant from the

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

. It was coordinated by Dr. Paul A. Shackel, the lead at

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

, with participation by scholars from the

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 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#Colleges and universities in ...

. By 2006, the archaeology team had surveyed 14 of the 144 lots. The town site was added to the U.S.

on August 11, 2005; In 2008, Christopher C. Fennell of the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 Univ ...

led the summer excavation team under a new grant. In June 2008, the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

filmed material at the dig, which was released as an episode of ''

Time Team America ''Time Team America'' is an American television series that airs on PBS. It premiered on July 8, 2009. It is an Oregon Public Broadcasting adaptation of the British show ''Time Team'', produced in collaboration with Channel 4, which commissioned th ...

''.Agbe-Davies, Anna (2009-01-12). "Searching for the African-American School House"
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Retrieved on 2009-07-27 On January 16, 2009 the Department of the Interior designated the New Philadelphia Town Site a

based on the significance of its history and archaeology. In 2013, the site was added to the

. A preliminary study conducted by the National Park Service in 2012 found that New Philadelphia had significant archaelogical and historical value, but because the sites' remains are buried underground, challenges in providing for public enjoyment and other issues would make it unsuitable as a unit of the

National Park System The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties ...

. Despite the NPS's recommendation against a full special resource study, the Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 incorporated a bill from Representative

Darin LaHood Darin McKay LaHood (; born July 5, 1968) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Illinois's 18th congressional district since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he was the member of the Illinois Senate ...

directing the Department of Interior to study the New Philadelphia townsite for possible NPS designation. Although the special resource study had not yet been completed, legislation was included in the

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 is a $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill funding the U.S. federal government for the 2023 fiscal year. It includes funding for a range of domestic and foreign policy priorities, including support for ...

to establish New Philadelphia National Historic Site, consisting of 124.33 acres. The National Historic Site will ensure protection and exploration of the site and education about interracial cooperation in Illinois.

Notes

External links

New Philadelphia National Historic Site
National Park Service
New Philadelphia AssociationFree Frank
New Philadelphia Historic Preservation Foundation

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
"New Philadelphia: A Multiracial Town on the Illinois Frontier," ''Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP)'' lesson plan, National Park Service"New Philadelphia"
PBS member station WILL-TV
New Philadelphia Special Resource Study
National Park Service {{authority control Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois National Historic Landmarks in Illinois Populated places in Pike County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Pike County, Illinois Populated places established in 1836 Former populated places in Illinois Populated places established by African Americans Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1836 establishments in Illinois African-American history of Illinois National Historic Sites in Illinois Protected areas established in 2022 2022 establishments in Illinois

History

Excavation and preservation

See also

Notes

External links