BARRY – A nearly forgotten strip of Pike County land that once housed the first city in the United States to be silver and legally registered through an African-American is now just one Vote away from the Senate gaining national park status.
The importance of the 80 acres once known as New Philadelphia has eluded an organization that, more than a decade ago, formed the New Philadelphia Association to publicize the city. Along the way, those efforts attracted a champion in Congressman Darin LaHood, whose paintings helped get New Philadelphia indexed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark.
In February 2021, LaHood introduced a bipartisan measure to place the park under the auspices of the National Park Service. It’s a resolution he says would provide the tools, resources and expertise “necessary to bring the park to its full potential. “
The solution passed unanimously through the entire House on Monday.
“It is imperative that sites like New Philadelphia be preserved for years to come so that future generations can better perceive their history and the classes that history gives us,” LaHood said Monday on the House floor.
New Philadelphia founded in 1836 through Frank McWorter, known as Free Frank. He had traveled to Illinois, which did not allow slavery, earning cash in the extraction of saltpeter. He bought his wife’s freedom in 1817 and his own freedom in 1819.
In 1831, he established a circle of relatives about 20 miles from the Mississippi River in Hadley Township, Pike County. Using the land for agriculture, he was able to acquire another plot, and in 1836 42 acres became 144 60-foot masses. across 120 feet known as New Philadelphia, according to the National Park Service.
Blacks and whites lived in combination in the colony until most of the land returned to agriculture at the turn of the century.
McWorter died in 1854. Records imply that at the time he had purchased the freedom of “16 enslaved persons for $14,000, a sum equivalent to thousands of dollars in the current currency,” according to the National Park Service.
“Since my election, I am proud to work with my congressional colleagues, the Pike County community and the New Philadelphia Association to maintain and recognize the New PhiladelphiaArray,” LaHood said. “Frank McWorter’s story is a vital component of Illinois and our nation. Hitale and Pike County deserve historic recognition. Adoption (Monday) is a vital step in this recognition, and I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation.
Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth last year introduced a companion solution in the Senate to put it in the custody of the National Park System, which oversees some 400 sites of cultural significance across the United States.
A vote in the Senate has not yet been scheduled.
The new president of the Philadelphia Association, Philip Bradshaw, said they appreciated the efforts of LaHood and others.
“Preserving the New Philadelphia City site is not only smart for Western Illinois, but also for all of Illinois, the country and generations over the long term,” he said. of how other people of other racial backgrounds lived and worked in a combined country at a time of great racial clashes in our country. This will help motivate future generations. “