BlairAndCernyFamilie..

Uneoneerned about industrial affairs and unaffected
by the fever of boosterism, flliopolis nevertheless
turned out bunper erops and fine livestock for sueh
pgowing eities as Sprinefield. Enough stores and other
serviee establlshments existed to serve local needs and
l-ife was good along the flliopolis-Lanesville axi-s.
Ialhat is now Lanesville was cllpped from Tlliopolis
in 1875 and beeame the township of l^lheatfield, a very
indisenous and deseriptive name. As such it remained
untl1 18F8 when it beeane Lanesville. During the next
several deeades, through good tines and bad, the o1d
families of I11iopo1i-s remained on the land.
Although the town was Isrown as hlilson, the pcstoffice
was cal1ed flliopolis station. The Great l'Jestern
railroad, which was built thrcugh the area in 1851+, fraa
a water tank at Wilson, as stated before, this was the
only one between Springfield and Deeatur.
When the name Illiopolis was adopted in lularch 1869,
it narked the second tfune for a town with that narae to
be located in the east Sangamon county area. Originarly
the town of Illiopolis r+as platted in 1B3l+ on a tract
of 8000 aeres of land at the geographical center of the
state, about one half rnile south of the present town, and
beeause of its central location some legislators thought
it to be the ideal place for the capitol, soon to be
removed flom Vandalia. A large two story hotel and warehouse
was built at the site and so'me lots sold for
residenees and business plaees. flliopolis was chosen
as a suitable narne for the rrfuture capitolrft f1lini, an
abbreviation of the state narne rrpolisrr frorn the Greek,
rleani.ns rrCity of the Suntr. Ballotine for the seleetion
of a new capital site was held on February 2-8, I?37.
Dn the second t'allot there were 10 votes for Geosraohieal
Oenter, cn the third
last none.
three ballots and on the first and
Soringfield won the coveted role as the state
eaoitol. Further building plans at illiopolis 'rere
abandoned and a prairie fire swept away the cnly landmarks
of a once aspiring town. It was almost 20 years
later that the name Illiopolis was revived.
The first settler recorded, Mrs. Anderson, a widow,
arrived in 1825 and erected the first 1og cabin. Soon