Nilwood is located in
Section 18 of Nilwood Township and a little of Nilwood is located in Section 13
of South Otter Township. The post office at Nilwood was established 3 Oct 1856.
The name Nilwood, supposedly named by train engineers running steam
locomotives, meant "no wood". There weren't any trees at Nilwood, so when the
steam engines approached Nilwood, they knew there would be no wood to take
aboard for producing steam.
According to the History of Macoupin
published in 1879, the first settler in Nilwood Township was John A HARRIS who
settled in the northeast part of the township known as "Harris Point," in 1829.
Following Harris were three brothers, John, Samuel, and Edley MCVEY, and David
STEEL, settling at Sherill's Point which later became known as McVey. Judge John
YOWELL and his son, James, came the same year from Shelby County, KY. William
STREET came from Kentucky in 1831 and later operated a general merchandise store
in Nilwood.
Most of the settlers were farmers and corn was their chief
crop. Lewis PITMAN built a gristmill about 1838 on Macoupin Creek. The gristmill
was run by four horses. Mr. Pitman also built a blacksmith shop. The first
school was built in 1838.
The Chicago and Alton Railroad connecting
Springfield and St Louis with Nilwood being one of its important stations was
begun in 1849 and completed in 1852. Later, the railroad would become the Gulf,
Mobile, and Ohio (GM&O). Today Amtrak uses the GM&O tracks. The railroad owned
land in the far southern part of Nilwood and provided a home there for the
railroad section boss.
The first buildings were erected by John
BENNYWORTH and Henry COOPER. Cooper, the first resident of Nilwood on 9 Jul
1852, came to the United States from England in 1849 when he was thirty years
old. He came to Macoupin County in 1851. A son, Henry, was born to the Coopers
on 10 Oct 1853. Henry Cooper, Sr. became a citizen on 15 Dec 1854.
The
village was laid out by Samuel MAYO and Philander BRALEY and surveyed by E H
CHAPMAN in 1855. The "boom" in Nilwood started in 1857. Five homes and two
stores were built. John BENNYWORTH built a gristmill. In 1862, the Methodist
Church was built, the Baptist Church in 1869 and between these two churches and
in the same block as the Methodist church, the two room frame shoolhouse known
as School #5 was located. A two story house built in 1868 which I was born and
raised in located on the west side of the street and in the second block of
south Henderson Street housed six families, one family in each room during
coalmining days. At that time, each family had an entrance to their room. The
house was demolished in 2006.
On 12 Feb 1873 (Macoupin County Chancery
Book 41 - p341-dissolution of corporations in 1920), John BENNYWORTH opened,
owned, and operated the Carbon Coal Mine. The shaft of the coal mine was located
just south of the grain elevator, the elevator location in 1996. The coal mine
brought skilled miners to Nilwood which, in turn, stimulated the growth of the
village. In 1875, the population of Nilwood was 500.
In 1875, the post
office was located where it is located in 1996 and a store was located across
the street to the north, but in 1893, the post office was located straight
across the street north at the store's location. In 1893, there were two general
stores in Nilwood.
In 1880, Nilwood had two churches and a brick high
school school house located where the brick elementary school was built in 1924.
The elementary school would be divided into four departments. There were three
physicians in Nilwood; H T JONES, J M HUNT, and A MILLER; two grain dealers,
Henry COOPER and J READER and Company. COOPER owned the coalmine having
purchased it in 1879 from John BENNYWORTH. Wheelright shops were owned by
Charles CLYSE and John WORLEY; a shoe shop by August SCHLICHT. Martin MURPHY was
the railroad agent.There were six grocery and dry goods stores. One of the
grocerymen, Robert STEVENSON, also served as postmaster from the post office in
his store. Other store owners were Joseph BALLINGER, John ODELL, Patrick KING,
Sidney HALL and W. S STREET.
The Nilwood State Bank was incorporated
1908. A resolution was signed 4 Mar 1933 by Directors of the Nilwood State Bank,
R. C. ADAMS, Chas. KLAUS and F. R. SHANNER to close the bank. Macoupin County IL
Chancery Book 52, pp 241-245.
In the early part of the twentieth century,
Nilwood had the coal mine, bank, post office, 3 or 4 general/grocery stores,
tavern, grain elevator, blacksmith shop (maybe two blacksmith shops), a high
school and grade school, and, when gasoline cars came along, Nilwood boasted
more than five filling (gasoline) stations. Remember when gasoline was hand
pumped up into a glass jar for measure then "drained" into the car's gas tank?
There have been restaurants in Nilwood during different periods of its history.
At one time, the town extended at least a block farther on the north side of
town than it does today. Nilwood had a Town Hall by 1893. It wasn't located
where it is located in 1996. The location of the Town Hall in 1893 was east of
all the railroad tracks and behind the old Chicago and Alton (GM&O) depot.
The Illinois Traction System (ITS) tracks ran north and south just east of
where the post office is located in 2015. The ITS train didn't operate until the
early part of the twentieth century and was known as a "street car." It ran on a
electrical system known as a trolley. The ITS railroad ceased to exist in 1982
and the tracks have been torn out.
The coal mine closed in 1908 and
reopened then closed permanently in 1920. On 9 Jul 1920, The Nilwood Coal Mining
Company (opened as the Carbon Coal Mine) closed (Macoupin County Chancery Book
41 - p341 - dissolution of corporations on 9 Jul 1920). The shaft was sealed but
the steeple, engine house and boiler room remained for many years until it was
finally abandoned in 1927 by the Union Fuel Company which owned it at the time.
The name of the mine at the time of abandonment was Union Fuel Company Coal Mine
#1. The bank closed during the depression and Nilwood began to dwindle in
population.
Nilwood by the special traveler: One year
ago, 1867, Nilwood was incorporated. Her population at present is 700.
A
new church is to be built soon, and a new school house next season; the present
school house is a poor apology for one. W. Corrington's new house is an ornament
to the town. Ed Rogers is building himself a house. Drs. Cowan, Miller and
'Squire' McIver look/took natural Business houses: Corrington, Keyes and Co.,
dry goods, groceries and hardware; Richardson & Street, dry goods, ready-made
clothing, boots and shoes; S. T. Bowman, groceries; Carter, the postmaster, with
Pittaford as partner in groceries; Murphy & Bro., groceries; T. B. Corey & Co.,
lumber-dealers; J. Rider & Co., millers: Jones & Corrington, butchers; Williams
& Co., blacksmith; E. Dopheide, wagon-maker; R. E. McMillan, drugs."
In
1997, Nilwood, with a population of about 250 citizens and located about 10
miles northeast of Carlinville, on Route 4, is one hundred thirty years old.
The four cabins that
were being built at the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Liles of Nilwood are
completed. They are up to date in every respect and will be of great benefit to
the tourists." The George Liles place was on the east side of Nilwood and on the
east side of the old Rt 4 what I would call north of Roy Mayfield's house during
the 1950's.
When telephones came to Nilwood, not many residents had one.
Jenkin DAVIS who ran a grocery store had a telephone. Many of the residents used
his telephone and put down as a reference that they could be reached at Jenkin
Davis' store.
The coal mine closing marked the end of an era for Nilwood.
From a population of over 500 during the peak in mining in Nilwood, the
population would dwindle to a low of 250. In 1997, there are no stores and no
schools. One gas station and post office remain. For income, many of the
residents commute to larger towns to work.
Andrew Adams and wife, Miss Elmona Adams, Mrs Ella Adams, R B Baker, and Wife, Thomas C Baker, Achilles Ballinger, Mary Ballinger, Amanda Blaney, Miss Almura Blaney, Americus Blaney, Wilbur and Harriet Brown, Flora Collins, T K Corey, Jennie Davidson, Charles Dix, Helen Dix, Mrs Drake, Mrs. Earsley, Hannah Erwin, Edward Etter, Mr and Mrs John W Etter, Alice Fletcher, John H Fletcher, Nancipa Graham, Carolyn Greenwald, James Hall, Mrs Martha Hancock, Eliza E Hart, Susan Hart, Hester Hartness, Cornelius Hawk, Clara Hays, O G Hays, Mrs Amanda Hughes, T Polk Hughes, Elizabeth Hulitt, Samuel B Jones, Bettie Liles, Mrs Anna Lyle, S B McAdams, Emma McGhee, Mary Malone, Nancy, Mrs Rebecca Mallory, Manerva Marshall, Betty Michael, H H Milligan, Miss C. Moore, Milton Moore, Mrs Ellen Morris, John Morris, Mrs E Mullen, Martha Murphy, Joseph Mussick, Sarah Fletcher Rhodes, Julia Rhodes, Henry Robley, Miss Ellen Robley, George Rick, Julia M Rider, Lydia Ann Snow, Loretta Teeples, Viana Teeples, Emma Tennis, Mrs Anna Turner, Lewis Turner, Sarah Waberton, Catherine, Mary Worley, and Stribling Wyatt and wife, Amanda.
Compiled and contributed by Gloria Frazier.
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This page was last updated
07/01/2022