ESLARP East St. Louis Action Research Project
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

History of East St. Louis

The Railroads

The first train line in the state of Illinois operated in East St. Louis (ESL). This line, a six-mile stretch built in 1837, was to convey coal from the bluffs to Illinoistown. Later, in the railroads boom years of the 1850's, many short coal lines were constructed in and around ESL. At this time, the industries located in ESL served local and regional markets. Between 1868 and 1873 large trunk lines were constructed which allowed indusrties in the area to ship their products nationwide. The trunk lines, and the completion of Eads Bridge across the Mississippi River, allowed goods to pass through ESL without being unloaded. This effected the types of industries that were able to prosper in the City.

Environment

Before significant modifications were made by humans, the American Bottoms were wet lands and low bottom land forests. Until the beginning of the twentieth century there were several lakes and numerous streams. Many of these lakes are today no longer present or have been greatly reduced in size. Most of the streams that once meandered across the floodplain have now been confined to straightened and deepened channels. The floodplain that was created by the Mississippi River and the small creeks, is now detached from these sources by a series of levees that were constructed around the turn of the century. These levees were built to protect the cities on the floodplain from flooding by the river and tributary creeks.

Agriculture

The first American settlers to the East St. Louis area were from the densely wooded states of Kentucky and Tennessee. These settlers chose the American Bottoms because it was an environment in which they felt comfortable; resembling their previous homes.

The next wave of immigrants were generally farmers who quickly saw the potential for draining and farming the floodplain. In the early 1800's, new drainage tile technology made the draining of the swamp lands possible. Agriculture was the primary industry in the Bottoms until the the Civil War in the 1860's. The young men who worked in the fields were needed to go off and fight in the war. To temporarily replace these workers, African Americans fleeing the South moved to the area to find employment. As industry developed, these workers moved from the fields to factories.

St. Clair County

St. Clair County was formed in 1790 and at that time encompassed most of what is now Illinois, all of Wisconsin, Minnesota, east of the Mississippi extending a far north as the Canadian border. The Counties boundaries changed frequently between 1790 and 1825. In 1825 it was approximately the shape and size it is today.



Document author(s) : Barb Baugher, Diane Timlin, Mark Child
HTML by : Barb Baugher, Diane Timlin, Mark Child
Last modified: 29 October, 1995

History of East St. Louis

East St. Louis Action Research Project
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