What’s New

A new historical marker was placed at 11060 Songbird Rd. (Khoury League Park) on Sunday, June 25th, 2023 at 2:00 P.M. Despite the heat, about 24 people showed up for the dedication service to mark the location of the old Cross Roads school. Below is the history behind the marker.

The local history book called “Nicknames & Other Things, A Memoric History of Pittsburg, Illinois” written by Marlene Richey and published in 1995 has now been indexed. The Index has been added to our Master Local History Index.

The Williamson County Historical Society will be holding a short historical marker dedication ceremony on Sunday, June 25^th at 2:00 P.M. The marker will be located at 11060 Song Bird Rd. in a location also known as Khoury League Ball Park NE of Marion.

The historical marker will be dedicated to Cross Roads School, a one room schoolhouse that operated from 1862 until 1952 located near the intersection of two early pioneer trails, thus its name. The rural schoolhouse educated local children from the first through the eighth grade and was eventually absorbed by the Community Unit School District system we have today. In 1972, a Khoury League baseball league was formed on this site. The public is invited to attend this event.

Local author Gradyon McWilliams donated a copy of his book “Either Peace or War” to the Williamson County Historical Society. Shown in photo are WCHS President Sam Lattuca, author Gradydon McWilliams and WCHS curator Sharon Vansaghi.

The local history book, “Reflections of our Memories,” a book about memories of Crab Orchard and surrounding areas published in 1994 has been indexed and added to our Master Local History Index.

The book was put together in 1994 by a history committee and the book was available through the Crab Orchard Library. Contents include brief histories of many of the local school districts, cemeteries, churches and villages around and including Crab Orchard. The majority of the book is based on interviews conducted by the committee with older Crab Orchard area citizens.

The Marion Garden club made a $150 donation to the Williamson County Historical Society on Friday, June 2, 2023. Presenting the check from the garden club was president Debbie Lattuca to WCHS president Sam Lattuca. The local garden club plants flowers in the pots at the entrance to the museum and library as well as making a monetary donation.

The Williamson County Historical Society has just published two more cemetery audit volumes created by Helen Sutt Lind. The books are called “Those in God’s Green Acres” volume one and volume two.

Volume one contains the audits of 15 cemeteries from 4 townships. The cemeteries include: Cundiff, Dewmaine, Duncan, Boyd, Perry, Hendrickson, Strunk, Becker, White Ash, Shiloh, Dillingham Shed, Zion, Bethel, Locust Grove and Liberty Number 8.

Volume two contains the audits of 32 cemeteries from 6 townships. The cemeteries include: Hinchcliff, Russell, County Poor Farm, Stroud, Worley, Motsinger, Susan Allen, Crossroads, Krieger, Hanks, Bethlehem, Norman, Pritchett, Newton, Perry, Trout, Creal Springs, Moses Atwood, Willis Bridges, Goddard, Herring, Cocke, Drake, Ann Burns, Bolton-Trammell, Till Parks, Croslin, Simmons, Spring Hill and Ferrell.

The books are now available through the Williamson County Historical Society in softback for $25. The indexes to these books have been added to our Master Cemetery Index.

A doctoral dissertation completed in 2005 by Masatomo Ayabe entitled “The Ku Klux Klan Movement in Williamson County” has been indexed and is available for study in our library. The dissertation paints a very complete picture of the political and social environment in the county prior to the Klan’s arrival and details why the organization was able to land on such fertile ground in the county. The book primarily covers from 1923 through 1926. The index has been added to our Local History Master Index.

Do you have back issues of the Marion Living Magazine in your home? If so, the museum would like to fill out their collection. The needed back issues are listed below:

2009, May – June

2010, Jan – Feb – Apr – May – Jun – Aug – Sep – Oct – Nov -Dec

2011, Feb – Mar – Apr – May – Jun – Jul – Aug – Sep -Oct – Nov -Dec

2012 ? We Have January

The Washington school 5th grade classes visited the museum to learn about local history and the lives of earlier people on May 3, 4, 5 & 12, 2023. The classes were attended by Washington school teachers Ms. Reynolds, Mr. Vickery, Ms. Holderfield and Ms. Shoukletevich. Each of the four touring classes had about 18 students. All of the students were presented with a small workbook to point out prominent facts about the musuem and local county history.