Frankfort Community High School - Red Bird Yearbook (West Frankfort, IL)

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Frankfort was prosperous and industrious Liberty Church is in o colorful and historical location, for it stands near where Frank Jordon and his brothers built the fort which was to be the first settlement in Franklin County. Near by is the grave of the first white man buried in this area. One of the famous stopping places for travelers along the Shawnee Trail was Moses Garrett’s Tavern. B. Curry is examining the inscription on the stone which morks the site of the famous inn. It may be seen about four and one-half miles southeast of the city on the Number Nine Blacktop Road, which is port of the Old Shawnee Trail. 1 laving an imposing location and being near the center of the largest settlement concentration in the area, the place where Logan School now stands was chosen by a committee of five as the location of the first county scat. Moses Garrett, who owned the site, donated it to the county. The town was located here in 1821, and a court house and a jail were erected in 1826. Old Frankfort thrived in those early days, being the principal trading post within a radius of 20 to 25 miles. The first store was opened by Dorris and Elstun. and soon afterwards Edward and John Moberly opened one. William and John Gardner built a castor-bean press, making the production of castor oil an important industry for Frankfort! Solomon Clark dealt in groceries and liquors. Adams and Brainerd’s gristmill-sawmill combination was located on what is now the site of the city water plant, and a flour mill was located on E. St. Louis Street. This was a thriving community. 6

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and exciting . . . Territorial Governor Ninan Edwards, fearing an Indian uprising, urged residents to build block houses or forts for protection. In response to this request, the seven Jordan brothers, John and William Browning, and a man named Barbary (all rep rted to have come from Smith County, Tennessee) built such a fort in 1804 on an 80-acre plat which was later a governmental land-grant made on October 18, 1814 to Francis Jordan. They remained together for protection. In 1812 when James Jordan and Barbary were gather ing wood, they were attacked by Indians who wounded Jordan and killed and scalped Barbary, making him the first white man known to have died in Franklin County. Mis grave began the first cemetery in the county. Six-footers J. Kinney and B. Brown are barely able to encompass the huge trunk of the majestic old oak which stands at the corner of Byran and St. Louis Streets. If its whispering leaves could talk, they would tell of Indian ponies, Conestoga wagons, and pioneers who passed by along the Shawnee Trail. •8. Brown, B. Curry, J. Kinney, H. Spence, and J. Annis look with interest into the depths of the old Public Well which is located about two miles west of the city on the Old Shawnee Trail. Undoubtedly its cooling waters have quenched the thirst of many a hot and thirsty traveler treading the Shownee Trail. 5

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Through the veins of the cool mines has run the life blood of West Frankfort. Shown in the first picture is a machine which spreads rock dust in the mine to lessen the danger of on explosion. In the second, is shown a Joy loading machine. These pictures ore typical of mines, for along with the ‘black gold goes dust, gas, and danger. In the bottom picture, Mr. S. B. Sullivan, former high school principal, accepts a check for the first Chamber of Commerce from Superintendent McPhoil. Coal has been important here. Coal mines brought ivealth to West Frankfort The chief coal vein of Illinois and Franklin County is coal vein number six. I his vein has produced nearly 69 per cent of all the coal in the State. The extreme depths of the richer veins was the reason for the relatively late development of commercial coal mining on a large scale in this area. In Southern Illinois the coal veins average 500 feet below the earth’s surface. In Franklin Countv, the maximum dip of coal vein six, which is about 10 feet thick, is from the southwest corner, where the vein is located at a depth of about 140 feet, to the northeast corner, where it is located at a depth of about 600 feet. 1 his depth accounts for the fact that the county has had only one slope mine. Though West Frankfort is not the biggest town in the area, it is one of the busiest, being still important as a shopping center. Its streets are filled with cars, indicating that business is good.