Sciota is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in McDonough County,

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 ...

. The population was 38 at the 2020 census, down from 61 in 2010.

History

Sciota was laid out in September 1867 by William B. Clarke and was called "Clarkesville" in his honor. Another town in Illinois already had been named Clarksville (without the "e"), so when the new town's post office was established on February 7, 1868, it was called "Amicus". This discrepancy between town name and post office name led the residents to change both names to "Sciota", after the

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

in which the town lies. (Sciota Township was named after the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets t ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

.)Clark (1878), p. 687. The Illinois General Assembly approved the name change on March 29, 1869. A Christian church was erected in 1869, a Baptist church in 1871, and a school building in 1872. In 1878, Sciota was the largest

grain market The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals and other food grains such as wheat, barley, maize, and rice. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other ...

in McDonough County. At that time, the primary crops were corn and

oat The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

s; now, the village is surrounded by fields of corn and

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu a ...

s. A

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...

, ''The Sciota Sentinel'', was published by H. C. Harl around 1895, but only one issue seems to have survived (October 17, 1895, no. 49).

Geography

Sciota is located in northern McDonough County at (40.5608731, -90.7517996) at an elevation of . It is north of

Illinois Route 9 Illinois Route 9 (IL 9) is a cross-state, east–west rural state highway in the central part of the U.S. state of Illinois. It travels from Niota at the Fort Madison Toll Bridge, that crosses the Mississippi River into Iowa, eastward across ce ...

and northwest of Macomb, the

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 ...

. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Sciota has a total area of , all land. It is situated east of the

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

of an unnamed

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of Spring Creek, itself a tributary of the East Fork of the

La Moine River La Moine River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 13, 2011 tributary of the Illinois River in western Illinois in the United States. Its watershed covers approxima ...

, part of the Illinois River watershed. The village of Sciota lies in an area of

prime farmland Prime farmland is a designation assigned by U.S. Department of Agriculture defining land that has the best combination of physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber, and oilseed crops and is also available for th ...

with

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...

classified as

Mollisol Mollisol is a soil type which has deep, high organic matter, nutrient-enriched surface soil ( a horizon), typically between 60 and 80 cm in depth. This fertile surface horizon, called a mollic epipedon, is the defining diagnostic feature of ...

Demographics

As of the 2010 census, there were 61 people, 26 households, and 12 families residing in the village. The racial makeup of the village was 100.00%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

Transportation and infrastructure

Sciota is accessible by

public road A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s from the south via McDonough County road East 800th Street (County Highway 13) which intersects with

1/2 mile south of the village. East 800th Street is called Buel Street within the village proper and extends north to the county line. Sciota is served by the

Keokuk Junction Railway The Keokuk Junction Railway Co. , is a Class III railroad in the U.S. states of Illinois and Iowa. It is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp. History The present company was incorporated in 1980 as the Keokuk Northern Real Estate Co., formed in ...

. As of January 2010, there were two rail sidings. There is one grade crossing protected by a pair of

crossbuck A crossbuck is a traffic sign used to indicate a level railway crossing. It is composed of two slats of wood or metal of equal length, fastened together on a pole in a saltire formation (resembling the letter X). Crossbucks are sometimes suppl ...

s with flashing lights and a mechanical warning bell (no gates). The village received a state grant of $400,000 in 2001 to connect to the Good Hope

water supply system A water supply network or water supply system is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components that provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes the following: # A drainage basin (see water purification – sourc ...

and to build a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...

. While Sciota has a water supply system, it does not have a sanitary sewer system; residents rely on

septic systems A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treat ...

for sewage disposal.

Notes

References

*Callary, E. (2008). ''Place Names of Illinois''. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. . *Clark, S. J. (1878).
History of McDonough County, Illinois: Its Cities, Towns and Villages, with Early Reminiscences, Personal Incidents and Anecdotes, and a Complete Business Directory of the County
'. Springfield, Ill.: D. W. Lusk. Internet Archive. Retrieved on January 2, 2010. {{authority control Villages in McDonough County, Illinois Populated places established in 1867 Villages in Illinois