Abandoned Record
About Cotton Hill
Cotton Hill, also known as Crow's Mill or Cotton Hill Post Office, was a small unincorporated community on the banks of Sugar Creek in Ball Township, Sangamon County, Illinois, about eight miles south of downtown Springfield. It stood for slightly over a century, from the 1820s until it was razed in the 1930s to make way for Lake Springfield.
This is a site record: what public sources say about Cotton Hill, gathered in one place. We haven't written a full guide yet, so history, current access and photos are still to come. Treat the status as unknown until a guide confirms it.
Map
Where Cotton Hill is
Historic maps
7 historic USGS maps cover Cotton Hill
Topographic sheets from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain), oldest first. Older sheets often show the camp, mines and roads while the place was alive. The downloads are large map scans; USGS topoView shows them in the browser.
- 1922 Divernon sheet, 1:62,500 · GeoTIFF download
- 1924 Divernon sheet, 1:62,500 · GeoTIFF download
- 1958 Decatur sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1961 Chatham sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1961 Decatur sheet, 1:250,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1985 Springfield sheet, 1:100,000 · GeoTIFF download
- 1998 Chatham sheet, 1:24,000 · GeoTIFF download
Directions
Getting there
Before you go
- Many ghost town sites are on private land, active mining claims or tribal land. Check land status and ask permission.
- Roads to old townsites are often unmaintained dirt. Map apps may route over closed or impassable tracks.
- Removing artifacts from public land is illegal under federal and most state laws.
Nearby
Other sites near Cotton Hill
Straight-line distance to other mapped sites in our Illinois index.
Sources
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Cotton Hill, Illinois": coordinates and summary.
- Wikidata Q118744363.
- USGS GNIS 1725479.
- USGS 3D Elevation Program, elevation at the coordinates.
- USGS The National Map and Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain).