Griggsville Landing, also known as Phillips Landing or Phillips Ferry, was located in Flint Township, just south of

Valley City, Illinois Valley City is a village in Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14 at the 2020 census, making Valley City the smallest incorporated place in Illinois in terms of population. As of 2024, the population was 13. In late Decembe ...

. It is a former town site on the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

in Pike County. The town was a steamboat stop which began sometime in the 1830s. There was a

lime kiln A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this reaction is: CaCO3 + heat → CaO + CO2 This reaction can tak ...

there that was part of a commercial lime operation prior to post-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, 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.J ...

industrial intensification in the

lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...

industry.The Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln at Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area, Pike County, Illinois
, Cultural Resource Program, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Retrieved January 22, 2007. The town at Griggsville Landing was home to a boat yard, a

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 grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

and a hotel in addition to the Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln, built around 1850, which is still standing as of 2007. The town was eventually abandoned, rendering it a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

. Griggsville Landing is adjacent to the

Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area The Ray Norbut State Fish and Wildlife Area is a state park located near Griggsville in Pike County, Illinois. It borders on the Illinois River and is primarily made of steeply sloped bluffland that is part of the river's valley. Heavily wood ...

History

Early history

Pike County, Illinois Pike County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is located between the Mississippi River and the Illinois River in western Illinois. According to the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 14,739. Its county seat is Pitts ...

was surveyed by the United States government in 1817–1819.^:43 The site became known as Phillipsburg, then Griggsville Landing, then the landing for Valley City; in 1906, the book ''Past and Present of Pike County, Illinois'', giving this sequence of names, notes that "Valley City is the only town in the township and is on the

Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario. Its primary con ...

."^:80 The same book refers to "Phillips' ferry, the present site of Valley City."^:168 In a 1912 county atlas, the name had changed again to Parkers Landing.

Industry

There was a lime kiln there that was part of a commercial lime operation prior to post-Civil War industrial intensification in the lime industry. The town at Griggsville Landing was home to a boat yard, a grist mill and a hotel in addition to the Griggsville Landing Lime Kiln, built around 1850, which is still standing as of 2007.

Boats

Ferry

In 1822, Garrett Van Dusen, the second settler in Flint Township,^:80 started a ferry using a

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

, ferrying footmen and swimming horses.^:56 Judge William Thomas of

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, in an 1873 letter, recalled crossing the river here in September 1827: Van Deusen later sold the ferry and land claim to Nimrod Phillips.^:56 By 1832, the site was referred to as Phillips' Ferry.^:53 It was used by

Hyrum Smith Hyrum Smith (February 9, 1800 – June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the original church of the Latter Day Saint movement. He was the older brother of the movement's founder, Jos ...

and his family during the

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

migration to Missouri. According to Juliet Walker writing for the Illinois Historical Journal, "Until the railroads, the Phillips Ferry Road, as it was commonly called, would remain the most traveled east-west route in the county." At Valley City, William Windsor (March 4, 1822 – March 12, 1885) ran a horse-powered ferry, and later a steam ferry.^:483

Steamboats

The town was a steamboat stop which began sometime in the 1830s. It continued as a steamboat stop until the 1930s. In 1844, Captain Samuel Rider constructed a boat called ''Olitippa'' at Griggsville Landing. The boat was powered by horses and designed to carry freight across low water levels. Rider constructed two steamboats at Griggsville Landing, ''Timolian'' and ''Prairie State''.

Decline

Levees

The town was eventually abandoned, rendering it a

due in part because, by Congressional mandate, the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

constructed

levee A levee ( or ), dike (American English), dyke (British English; see American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, spelling differences), embankment, floodbank, or stop bank is an elevated ridge, natural ...

s along the Illinois River leading to flooding of lower elevation settlements along the river. The annual floods as a result of the levees wreaked havoc on Valley City leading to decimation of the town's businesses, abandonment of homes, and the eventual death of the town. Prior to the levees, Valley City was a vibrant river town with an economy based on

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

, transportation of agricultural products such as hogs packed in oak barrels, apples, and cattle to markets in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

and

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, and a host of small businesses including an ice house that harvested ice from the Illinois River each winter packing it in sawdust and delivering ice to residents of Griggsville some four miles west.

Railroads

When rail service expanded into Pike County in the 1860s and 1870s, reliance on river landings for trade decreased. By 1870, only four steamboats made regular trips between Peoria and St. Louis. In 1877, Valley City was platted a half-mile north of Griggsville Landing where the railroad crossed the Illinois River. With its proximity to the railroad, Valley City soon displaced Griggsville Landing as an important economic and trade location.

Other factors

Sometime in the late 1990s, the last major plant in Valley City, the Tate Cheese Company, closed its doors for good. After Tate Cheese Company abandoned the processing plant in Valley City there was less interest in the remaining buildings adjacent to the plant. People began to permanently abandon their homes after the

Great Flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi River, Mississippi and Missouri River, Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from ...

that devastated many homes across the Midwest.

Geography

Griggsville Landing was located at .

References

{{authority control Ferries of Illinois Ghost towns in Illinois Geography of Pike County, Illinois Illinois River Populated places established in the 1830s 1830s establishments in Illinois