The Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site is an historic bank building in Old Shawneetown, Illinois , and is the oldest structure in Illinois built specifically as a bank. A Greek Revival structure built in 1839–1841 in what was then called Shawneetown, it was the home of a series of banks into the 20th century. The building is brick with a limestone front façade.
24-518: Shawneetown is a city in Gallatin County , Illinois , United States . The population was 1,054 at the 2020 United States Census. It is the county seat of Gallatin County. Shawneetown is located southeast of the center of Gallatin County at 37°42′53″N 88°11′00″W / 37.714701°N 88.183465°W / 37.714701; -88.183465 . Illinois Route 13 passes through
48-680: A cost of $ 80,000, on the north corner of Main Street and what was then called Main Cross Street. The cornerstone was laid on August 3, 1839, and the bank building opened in 1841. This was not the most expensive of the transactions of the State Bank of Illinois, however: In the same period, it had loaned $ 80,000 to the state to complete the fifth state capitol , then under construction in Springfield. It also loaned another $ 200,000 to
72-740: A low of 21 °F (−6 °C) in January to a high of 87 °F (31 °C) in July, although a record low of −22 °F (−30 °C) was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of 104 °F (40 °C) was recorded in August 2007. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 3.22 inches (82 mm) in October to 5.02 inches (128 mm) in May. As of the 2020 census , there were 4,946 people, 2,155 households, and 3,764 families residing in
96-426: A rate that the bank could not deliver specie on demand, and the bank suspended specie payments; to avoid a charter provision forcing liquidation on suspension for 60 days, the state legislature made indefinite suspension legal twice, once in July 1837 and once in 1839. Nonetheless, the prosperity of the mid-1830s boosted the confidence of bankers. The bank building of historic note was erected in 1839 and 1840, at
120-661: Is barely half the worst Democratic percentage from before 2010. However, despite its sharp rightward turn, it followed the wave in 2008 within the state that elected Barack Obama president, who remains the last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election. In 1994 , Gallatin County was the only one in the state to vote for the Democratic candidate for governor. It voted for the Democrat in every gubernatorial election from 1924 to 2006, finally flipping in 2010 and then voting Republican again in 2014 and 2018. According to
144-780: The State Bank of Illinois building , which is a state historic site a block away in Old Shawneetown Although Illinois was legally a free state , an exemption in the Illinois Constitution allowed slavery at the Illinois Salines and other salt springs near Shawneetown in Gallatin County. The slave-operated salines contributed one-third of the new state's yearly revenue. The law allowed African slaves to be imported to
168-505: The U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 328 square miles (850 km ), of which 323 square miles (840 km ) is land and 5.1 square miles (13 km ) (1.6%) is water. The Wabash and Ohio rivers join in the northeastern part of the county. The Saline River is a major drainage in the county, and it feeds into the Ohio River. In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Shawneetown have ranged from
192-606: The Confederate Army. It then became solidly Democratic for the next century and a third, voting Republican only in the GOP landslides of 1920, 1952, 1972 and 1980. Even in those four elections, no Republican candidate received more than Richard Nixon ’s 53.7 percent in his 3,000-plus-county 1972 triumph. Since 2000, Gallatin County has followed the same political trajectory as Tennessee , Missouri , Kentucky , West Virginia and Appalachian regions of adjacent states, whereby
216-527: The Democratic Party’s liberal views on social issues have produced dramatic swings to the Republican Party amongst its almost entirely Southern white population. Over the five elections from 2000 to 2016, Gallatin County has seen a swing of 84 percentage points to the Republican Party – an average of 17 percentage points per election – so that Hillary Clinton ’s 24.3 percent vote share in 2016
240-793: The French had settled at the Great Salt Spring on the south side of the Saline River , about five miles downstream from Equality . Beginning in 1803, salt works were also developed at Half Moon Lick, southwest of Equality on the north side of the Saline River. Half Moon Lick is now on private land, but the Great Salt Springs are on public lands in the Shawnee National Forest , about one mile west of
264-787: The Saline River bridge across Illinois Route 1 on Salt Well Road. Gallatin County was organized in 1812 from land formerly in Randolph County . It was named for Albert Gallatin , who was then Secretary of the Treasury. The bank at Shawneetown was the first in Illinois. It was originally in the John Marshall House , which has been rebuilt and serves as the museum of the Gallatin County Historical Society. This should not be confused with
SECTION 10
#1732772806145288-501: The building, and also, with John McKee Peeples, founded The First National Bank of Shawneetown in the building in 1865; both Ridgway's residence and the First National Bank were still in the building as of the mid-1870s. Thomas S. Ridgway remained president of the First National Bank until his death in 1897. His family continued to live in the bank until 1913. The building housed numerous financial institutions through
312-568: The city, leading southeast 3 miles (5 km) to the Ohio River and the Kentucky border at Old Shawneetown , and west 20 miles (32 km) to Harrisburg . It is located at the northeast edge of Shawnee National Forest . The present town was established in 1937 after the Ohio River flood of 1937 inundated what is now Old Shawneetown, Illinois . As of the 2020 census, there were 1,054 people, 505 households, and 490 families residing in
336-555: The city. The racial makeup of the city was 92.13% White , 1.14% African American , 0.48% Native American , 1.24% from other races , and 4.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.19% of the population. There were 505 households, out of which 21.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.4% were married couples living together, 46.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.8% were non-families. 60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% had someone living alone who
360-468: The commissioners of public works, on the promise of $ 500,000 in pledged securities, but neither the $ 500,000 pledge nor the $ 200,000 loan was ever paid. The bank finally failed in June 1842, with a banknote circulation of $ 1,300,000 (equivalent to $ 39,400,000 in 2023) still outstanding. At liquidation, the bank's real estate lot, including the building, was evaluated as $ 83,336.74. The bank building
384-412: The county The racial makeup of the county was 95.03% white, 0.102% American Indian, 0.526% black or African American, 0.486% Asian, 0.445% from other races, and 3.013% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.072% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 18.1% were German , 13.6% were Irish , 14% were English . The median income for a household in the county was $ 51,868 and
408-461: The legislature passed a new act on February 12, 1835, extending the charter to January 1857 and using the name State Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown . An act of March 4, 1837 increased the authorized capital stock from $ 300,000 to $ 1,400,000, of which $ 1,000,000 was reserved for the State and $ 400,000 for private investors. The Panic of 1837 caused holders of banknotes to turn them in at such
432-489: The median income for a family was $ 65,833. 37°46′N 88°14′W / 37.76°N 88.23°W / 37.76; -88.23 Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency called Old Shawneetown "the gateway to the Illinois Territory " and "the commercial center of early Illinois". The area was a profitable salt mining area, and a federal land office
456-460: The site until 1825, when the exemption expired. However, indentured servitude at the springs continued past this point. Salt production continued until 1870, when competition from West Virginia salt mines drove the springs out of business. As the most culturally Southern of all Illinois counties, Gallatin County was pro- Confederate during the Civil War and even provided a few volunteers to
480-566: The southern portion of Illinois known locally as Little Egypt . Located at the mouth of the Wabash River , Gallatin County, along with neighboring Posey County, Indiana, and Union County, Kentucky form the tri-point of the Illinois-Indiana-Kentucky Tri-State Area . Salt production served as the state's first major industry in the early 19th century. Saltworks developed first by Native Americans, and
504-410: Was 65 years of age or older. The median income for a household was $ 40,231, and the median income for a family was $ 44,554. Gallatin County, Illinois Gallatin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois . According to the 2020 census , it has a population of 4,946, making it the third-least populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Shawneetown . It is located in
SECTION 20
#1732772806145528-491: Was approved on December 28, 1816 by territorial governor Ninian Edwards , with a charter to operate until January 1, 1837 and provisions for the Territory and future State of Illinois to participate in the bank. At the very beginning, John Marshall operated the bank out of his home. The bank suspended operations in 1823 or 1824, after Illinois had become a state. However, at the recommendation of Governor Joseph Duncan ,
552-497: Was established in the village in 1812. Settlers sought credit to buy land from the federal land office, and local business sought paper money to ease business transactions. Four privately-owned banks were chartered by the Illinois territorial legislature in 1816, and the first bank established in the Illinois Territory was by John Marshall, and named the Bank of Illinois or Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown . The authorization act
576-603: Was sold to Joel A. Matteson for $ 15,000. In 1853, then-governor Matteson started the State Bank of Illinois in the same building, under a free banking act . At the dawn of the American Civil War , Matteson feared that the Confederate forces might be able to overrun the area on short notice, and so closed the bank and sold the building, for only $ 6,500, to Thomas S. Ridgway. Ridgway took up residence in
#144855