The Kaskaskia–Shawneetown and Goshen Trail was developed from an 1816 appropriation of funds from the Congress of the United States. This trail served as an important link between the

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

town of Shawneetown across

Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...

, through the town of Mulkeytown to the then capital of Illinois in

Kaskaskia The Kaskaskia were a historical Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. They were one of about a dozen cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation, also called the Illinois Confederation. Their longstanding homeland was in ...

Current day

A historical marker was placed at the location where the Kaskaskia–Shawneetown and Goshen Trails intersect, near

Illinois Route 142 Illinois Route 142 is a major arterial road in southeastern Illinois. It runs from near the town center of Equality at Calhoun Street, a local road, north to Illinois Route 37 and the northern terminus of Illinois Route 148 in Mount Vernon. Thi ...

(IL 142) and Moore Road in Saline County. The Silkwood Inn, located in

Mulkeytown, Illinois Mulkeytown is an unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated and census-designated place in Franklin County, Illinois, Franklin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 162. Geography Mulkeytown is locat ...

, remains to this day in its original location, having been refurbished by the West Franklin Historical District & Genealogical Society to its original condition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shawneetown-Kaskaskia Trail National Register of Historic Places in Saline County, Illinois Transportation in Illinois