HISTORY OF DANVILLE AND VERMILION COUNTY

Historic Information

   Vermilion County once belonged to one of the confederacies of the Algonquin Indians, called the Miamis, and to the Kickapoo and Pottowatomie tribes of the same family. Danville sits on the site of an old Piankashaw Indian village, they were a large part of the Miami Confederacy.  These tribes were scattered along the river, known as the Vermilion, settling there for salt deposits located on the river. These same salt works, as powerful a lure to the frontiersmen as gold, brought the first white settlement called “Salt Salines” to Vermilion County. One of the original iron rendering kettles is now displayed at the “Salt Kettle” Rest Area located near the original salt mines site on I-74 west of Danville. The “Salines of the Vermilion” are referred to in French records as early as 1706.
   Danville was founded by Dan Beckwith in April of 1827. It was a time when Danville was greater than Chicago, when traffic on the river (the Vermilion and its various forks) was considered more promising than was traffic on Lake Michigan.
In the mid 1800’s it was coal, rather than salt, that brought settlers to Danville and Vermilion County. The first miners - two carloads of them - were imported into the country. In the late 1800’s the county ranked first in coal production in Illinois, employing over 4,000 people in the mines. The ravaged, strip-mined moonscape left behind is today a sprawling, beautiful chain of State and County Parks. Vermilion County has over 10,000 acres of parks, more per capita than any county in Illinois. Included in the park system is the Middle Fork National Scenic River, the only river so designated in Illinois.
   Had you been walking down Vermilion Street in Danville in the early 1850’s you very possibly might have run into a tall, somewhat unkempt young attorney crossing from his offices in the Barnum building to the courthouse to argue a case in the 8th Judicial Circuit. Abraham Lincoln practiced law in Danville from 1841 until 1859. It was here he made his final address in Illinois from his train bound for Washington at the Wabash Station on Main Street, February 11, 1861. Here he said. “If I have blessings at my disposal, Old Vermilion will come in for a bountiful share.
   Although Danville started as a river town, one of it’s principal reasons for growth was another means of transportation - the railroad. It was here many north/south lines crossed at what was known as Danville Junction. The history and romance of Danville Junction highlight an era when rails were the only trails. It goes back before radios and movies, before telephone, automobiles, planes, or buses. Danville Junction was a beehive of activity as swarms of people and mountains of baggage loaded and unloaded. President McKinley, Teddy Roosevelt, Uncle Joe Cannon, Booker T. Washington, Carrie Nation and other picturesque characters used Danville Junction.
  Industry followed, with brickyards. Much of the University of Illinois and many government buildings in Washington, D.C. were built with bricks from Danville’s yards.
   Today, the city has a growing industrial climate. It has gained national recognition with it’s fairs and festivals, such as Oldsmobile Balloon Classic Illinois, considered one of the top hot air balloon races in the world. It is known for it’s many famous sons who include Jerry and Dick VanDyke, Bobby Short, Donald O’Conner, Gene Hackman, and Astronaut Joe Tanner.