Mount Vernon (Illinois): Difference between revisions

In the early 1800s the [[Goshen Road]] crossed Illinois in a northwesterly direction from [[Old Shawneetown, Illinois]] to the [[Goshen Settlement]], near what is now [[Edwardsville, Illinois]]. This road was the main road in Illinois.

 

 

It was apparent to the early settlers that the town would fail without roads. In [[1820]] - [[1821]], Ben Hood and Carter Wilkey built a bridge over Casey Creek, to the southeast of town. This bridge was near the present bridge on [[Illinois Route 142]]. A road was built from there northwest, over ground that is now impassable, toward the old cemetery behind the modern Bethel Cemetery. Deep cuts through the old cemetery attest to the location of the road. From there the road probably followed modern [[Illinois State Route 37|Route 37]] into town, somewhere shifting from 10th Street on west to 12th Street.