On the biting cold morning of February 8, 1843, the Illinois state legislature carved a new identity out of the rugged Ohio River wilderness. For decades, the land had been a crossroads of conflict and commerce, defined by the silhouette of Fort Massac, that had seen the flags of France, Britain, and a young America fly.
Settlers in the region, weary of trekking through the thick timber and swampy bottomlands to reach the distant seats of Pope and Johnson counties, petitioned for their own center of law. When the bill passed, Massac County was born, named in honor of the storied fort that guarded the “Gateway to the West.”
The early days were defined by the grit of the river. Pioneers gathered in the fledgling town of Metropolis, envisioning it as a grand terminal for western expansion. They weren’t just building a county; they were anchoring a vital link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico.
As the 183rd anniversary passes, the county stands as a testament to those frontier families who looked at the muddy banks of the Ohio and saw a permanent home.
Original Families & Officials: – Allen (S.G. Allen) – Moody (Jonathan Moody) – Collier (J.T. Collier) – Choat (John P. Choat) – Copeland (Alfred Copeland) – Smith (Perry, Reuben, and Sylvester Smith) – Wilcox (James T. Wilcox) – Shelby (C.A. Shelby) – Johnson (Lewis Johnson) – Simpson (Jesse Simpson) – Massie (William Massie) – Davison (Isaac Davison)
Comments