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DU QUOIN (ILL.) EVENING CALL1853—Du Quoin Centennlal—1953Center in the 1870'sHalliday's Discovery of Salt in 1870Booming Community of St. John;Approximately 350 Men Were Employed ThereA history of Du Quoin would be incomplete without that of Its immediate neighbor to the north, St. John, which is an incorporate vdlage but Is served 6s a rural route out of the local postoffice .In earlier days, the association between the two communities was even closer than at the ptasent because of the booming,industries in St. John, particularly its ccialV:;; yj' ' * ’ •$lt;:■mines and salt works.St. John lies In section five, township five south, range one west of the third principal meridian. it was platted on September 13, 1856, by a man named Ashley, and his brother.The Illinois Central Iron and Coal Mining Company was organized March 3, 1857, and their articles of association filed March 27 of the same year.ine the lower coal fields, a salt well was struck at the depth of 940 feet. Halltday at once saw the importance of this discovery, and immediately began the erection of suitable buildings for the manufacture of salt, which were completed, with machinery ready] for use, in November 1873,1000 FEET DEEPThe flow was 20 to 50 barrels of salt water per minute whichK smr'''wo* on indmtrial ctnlar In th« I870*t with Ht lalt works, eok« ovens, copper id antlfiod in this drawing of th« booming community on the Illinois Central Picture Is still standing on U, S, highway 51. The village of St. John was ay’s discovery of salt in 1870. For a time it threatened to outgrow its sister Du QuoinSalt Worksj ’i■viStreet Car LineThe capital slock was $56,000, divided into 560 shares, lncorpor-1 5™ £;?).. nf finnnatPtt fnr lt;in VAaVR r day- Four or the wells were 1000atod tor 30 yea)s. fect and the £lflh WM 380()The first directors and officers foe^ were Austin S. Tuttle, president;t Salt was made by drawing Alonzo W. Nason, secretary and vvaler lnl0 huge valSi vhon bbli.treasurer; and Orrln J. Rose. This ing it with stale butter. This company began mining coal In combination was allowed to cool,?,!• , , , an^ stand for 24 hours while theDie coal vein dips at St. John ^jj; settled to the bottom and theand it was worked by digging a debrls rose l0 lhe ,op. Xbc salljConnected CityWith St. JohnBefore the turn of the century, the thriving village of St. John claimed a greater industrial development Ilian Du Quoin— including two salt plants, two slope coal mines and five salt wells—and many men from Du Quoin wore employed there.slope instead of sinking a shaftThe town was really established by Captain W. P. Halliday, an English sea captain, who had gathered his wealth from many lands. He had much to'do with the early development of Egypt His favorite town, where he made his home, was Cairo because of the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. *In 3867, HaJliday purchased all the stock of the Illinois Central Iron and Coal Mining company and assumed control and management of the mine., in thewas then drawn from the bottom and dried.The Salt Works ran accompany store which served the entire community with family needs. The manager for many years was B. O. Cook. Most items were soldtali wen i u ? nuntuuy vvm^vuij a ^ ■ * ^vnu • -mi vi ^^1,000 f«et deep and the fifth was 3,800 feet. Each well produced fnom 20 to 50 barrets of salt water per minute or (SO barrels of salt per day*There was a cooperage (barrel factory) in connection with the. ....................................Salt Works. Eleven men wereby the barrel or from barrels, the employed and made approxi-favorite packaging method of those times.mate I y 700 barrels a day. Among,and Bill Davison.Barrels were sold, ‘ also, for packing and shipping flour, apples and vinegar,A barrel of salt weighed 280.4 .4 mm 4- J 4,4. I f *4.I the early coopers were Tom, Joe, pounds and sold for $1,25New' Halliday Salt Works/,*Jv r rv - V #lJohn In 1857 and purchased by Captainthe workings. Note the elevated cars, works fo supply fuel for the salt vats.a salt weOtu' (tf the principal moans of:.spring of 1873 a new slope wastransportation was a street earline which connected the two communities.Constructed in 1SS2, the system was financed largely hv B. D. Mifflin. Phenias Mifflin? Frank Pope and Carl White were stockholders.The streetcar line ran from a point near the intersection of Main and Division streets, “Angel’s corner’’, to the St. John prosunk, a mile and a quarter east.Captain Halliday owned thousands of acres north of Du Quoin.Besides the extensive mininginstitutions, there was a farm consisting of 2,300 acres, 700 acres of which were under cultivation' belonging to the works, ail of which were owned and controlledby Halliday.There were employed here about 350 men, including all thei• IVatseery store, a distance of about branches of the business one and nne-fourlh miles. j McamvbiIe he opet,ated ho(elst'iirs were pulled by horses and jn a number of mid-westernmules. Knch ear had a capacity towns, among them the Hallidayof about 20 iveopie. The fare was* on south Washington in Dufive cents. j Quo! where Cliff's Filling Stain the 500 block' of North Divi-I Uon is now, and the Hallidaysion street was a pass track ontof House in Cairo * * *V*A-VY»KN S»KV.*\ NNWWo OV 0*\$\XAfWX.,which one car could pull to wait for tlu* other to get by. The railswore hut about “eight or tenIn 1870, while boring to examThW wai th* mw” Halliday Solt Work*, which had a Du Quoin mailing addret* although It was loeatad In $♦. John. Salt wa* diteoverad in 1870 while workman for tha Halliday Company war# boring to axamlna tha lowtr coalI % * clIfield*.
Newspaper Details
Du Quoin Evening Call
Du Quoin, Illinois, US
Sat, Sep 19, 1953
Page 12
Full Page
Clipped by
Darren H.
USA 17 Jan 2021
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Du Quoin Evening Call
