Elmore is a small, unincorporated settlement in the northwest corner of Millbrook Township, Peoria County, Illinois. The Spoon River runs nearby. It did have one church, a United Methodist Church, but it closed in 2008. The church building was built in 1865 and 1866 by

Presbyterians Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

Congregationalists Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

then later sold to Methodists. The building has since been renovated into a house and no longer resembles the original structure which used to be maintained by the people of the town on a volunteer basis before being sold by the Methodists. Elmore was settled in the 1830s It was originally named Rochester, but this was changed due to a municipality in Illinois already named Rochester. Many local people, even in the 21st century, still refer to Elmore as Rochester. It was recently described in a book about the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

by Owen Muelder. It was an important stop on the Underground Railroad.

References

http://www.undergroundrailroadconductor.com/UGRRinIllinois.htm
Unincorporated communities in Peoria County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois {{PeoriaCountyIL-geo-stub