Some
History of the Mattoon Area
Mattoon
sits in a small plain through which flows the northern fork of the
Bushy Fork of Crooked Creek; therefore its well-watered and flat open
area made it an easily defended position on the way to the Ohio River
crossing. And no doubt made the spot an excellent campsite for
hunters and trappers on the Saline big-game trail, and as a
camp-gound-rendezvous for packhorse traveling pre-1803 pioneers and
local settlers.
According
to local tradition, the campsite was known as "Lick-Skillet,"
and this is very likely a true story, for the trail was the natural
pathway of the bison, deer, elk and other grazing animals on their
necessary periodic journeys from the barren plains of Southwestern
Kentucky and Northwestern Tennessee to the Saline Salt Licks, just
across the Ohio River in what is now Hardin County, Illinois.
The
trail began at French Licks, (now Nashville) on the Cumberland River
in Tennessee, and since in the popular pioneer slang of that day, a
small plain or level area, used as a campsite or cooking place,
within a larger rolling valley was often called a "skillet,"
and since the trace that led to its use as a campsite ran between two
salt "licks," deviation of the local's early name from
these two names seems quite reasonable.
When
George Flynn opened his Ohio River Ferry in 1803, it caused the
widening of the trace or trail into a wagon road. And the now
re-named road, The Flynn's Ferry Road became the main highway for the
overland-traveling pioneers to Illinois and Missouri region to the
west and northwest, and it is said that a covered wagon was rarely
out of sight on this road.
The
campsite of Lick-Skillet lay about a day's journey, by the pioneer's
slow-moving ox-drawn wagons, north of the pioneer towns of Donaldson
and Centerville, the last two towns and supply points for the
northward traveler before reaching the Ohio that existed in those
days. The area thus became a camp or overnight park for covered
wagons and would have been the field where the Mattoon school
building is located today and across the highway where the stores
used to be located.
Robertus
Love Moore, known as Bart, was a pioneer settler of the Mattoon
section. Being an good businessman, and taking advantage of the
increasing flow of traffic, he build a large dry good store and
hardware store. He handled lumber, feeds, seeds, farm tools and
implements and smokehouse meats that was sold in those days. This
first general merchandise store of Mattoon was raiding by the Federal
soldiers, and they took everything that he had. This looting of
Moore's store almost killed the little village, but after the
hostilities of the war cooled down, Bart rebuilt back.
Mattoon
adopted it's present name in 1894. It is thought that it was in
these days that Mattoon first received its name as we know it today.
It was first called Matt's-town, after an early peddler or trader who
operated at the covered wagons towns usually always present in the
area, and the two words soon became phonetically joined to form the
present name on Mattoon.
The
business center which had led the county in the sale of farming
implements during the early 1890's lost its tobacco stemmery and
flour mill to a fire in the early 1900's. The town dwindled to only
one general store, which Fred Brown bought in 1913 and moved it
across the Marion Road to the old tobacco stemmery lot, where the old
building still stands.
The
construction of U. S. Highway 60 though Mattoon was the boost that
again set the village back on the growing path. Ed Hunt built
another general store on the northwest corner of Flynn's ferry Road
and the new highway. He put two gas pumps in front of it.
Mattoon
graded school was the first attempt toward rural one-room school
consolidation in Crittenden County.
I
remember in the 70's a telephone booth being sat on the corner where
the two store were located. It's sad to see these old empty
buildings slowing falling down, and knowing at one time a busy
productive community was here.
