Centuries before Columbus arrived, a powerful culture rose up in the Mississippi Valley. These people built a sophisticated civilization that became the largest north of Mexico. Up to 20,000 people populated Cahokia which made it larger than London in 1250 AD. These people influenced cultures from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. They made significant advances in astronomy, agriculture, and economics. And then they disappeared. The Mississippian period began 1100 year

Lawrence County prehistory is archeologically complex, spanning a wide range of time extending from the earliest known prehistoric time prior to the Paleoindian (ca 12,000-10,500 BC) up to the time of Euro-American settlement in the early nineteenth century. Our area, the central Wabash Valley, was one of the last major unknown archaeological areas of Illinois until the Illinois State Museum made archaeological excavations in the 1960’s. The period that existed until, and aft

Dogs have long been considered "Man's Best Friend," with their partnership with humans dating back thousands of years. The oldest domesticated dog remains in North America, found at the Koster Site in Illinois, were buried alongside humans around 8,500 years ago. Lawrence County's archaeological history stretches from before the Paleoindian era (ca 12,000–10,500 BC) to early nineteenth-century Euro-American settlement. Were there any dogs in OUR early history? Our friends fro

Don't forget to attend the LHS play, “Voices from the Hanging” on TONIGHT Friday, May 23, 2025, at 7 p.m. in the LHS auditorium. (It's...

According to an article written by Ruth Anderson Walker of the Northern Indiana Center for History for an unnamed newspaper May 7, 1995,...

Jesse Anderson , a free African American, owned a farm about 2 ½ miles southwest of Fort Allison erected near Russellville Lawrence...

From the diary of Mr. Birbeck of Albion Illinois in 1817 wherein he described the Native Americans in Vincennes. “Vincennes exhibits a...

Edward Perry Fyffe was born in Fort Allison Illinois, during the Native American uprisings when the settlers were forced to inhabit the...

Archaeologists researching the Riverton Culture (2000-1000 BC) in Lawrence County have discovered that often the answer was Mussels. They...

William F Ruark has been reported as the son of John C and Mary Smith Ruark born about 1815. While the Native Americans had vacated the...