Abandoned Towns
The State Bank of Illinois, a Greek Revival bank with five stone columns, high stone steps and brick side walls, in Old Shawneetown

River and lake town

Old Shawneetown

The land office and banking town of early Illinois, flooded again and again by the Ohio until 1937 sent most of its people to higher ground. A village of 113 lives among empty lots and a few grand old buildings, led by a columned bank of 1841.

37°41′50″N 88°08′20″W · ≈350 ft

Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Bank closed for tours

Old Shawneetown is a living village of 113 people (2020 census); its streets are public and homes are private. The Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site is presently closed for tours, per the Illinois DNR page read October 2026, and Landmarks Illinois reported in 2024 that the building has fallen into further disrepair. See it from the street.

Overview

Gateway to Illinois, under water

Shawneetown from the air during the Ohio River flood, February 5, 1937
Shawneetown from the air during the Ohio River flood, February 5, 1937 · Photo: Unknown author (U.S. National Archives), Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Shawneetown sat on the Ohio River where settlers landed for southern Illinois. The salt works inland shipped from here, and in 1812 the federal government opened a land office, so settlers buying land in the region came through it. In 1816 the territorial legislature chartered the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown, run at first by John Marshall from his house. Lafayette visited in 1825. Between 1839 and 1841 the State Bank of Illinois put up a Greek Revival bank on Main Street at a cost of $80,000; Wikipedia calls it the oldest building in Illinois built as a bank. The state bank failed within two years, but other banks used the building into the 1930s.

The river that made the town kept coming over the bank. A resident told PBS in 2019 that it flooded in 1875, 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1898. The great flood of January and February 1937 finished the old town. Most people moved about three miles inland to build a new Shawneetown, which took the county seat and a new courthouse in 1939. The old riverfront became Old Shawneetown.

Some people never left. The village had 193 people in 2010 and 113 in 2020. Buildings have kept disappearing: the original John Marshall House was torn down in 1974 for a reproduction, and the Peeples Houses, among the oldest brick houses in town, are gone. The bank still stands, but it is closed for tours and in poor repair, and the residents who stay told PBS they cannot get flood insurance.

Video

A winter walk through the old town

A YouTuber drives into Old Shawneetown on a grey winter day and walks the streets: the bank from the sidewalk, the shut Hogdaddy's Saloon, the old Texaco station, a Lewis and Clark sign and the Spirit of Shawneetown memorial. She finds a bar open in town, drives to the John Marshall House, which she did not expect to be open in winter, climbs the levee steps to look out over the Ohio and reads the marker for the 1937 Tent City. The narration's founding date of 1793 and peak of about 2,000 in 1910 are the creator's own; we found no source for them. She dates the bank to the 1840s; the DNR gives 1839 to 1841.

Play “Exploring a forgotten river town in Southern Illinois” from YouTube
“Exploring a forgotten river town in Southern Illinois”, by Whits Life on YouTube. The player loads from YouTube when you press play.

Timeline

Land office, bank and flood

Main Street in April 1937, after the flood, with the Posey Building and the Gallatin Democrat office
Main Street in April 1937, after the flood, with the Posey Building and the Gallatin Democrat office · Photo: Russell Lee, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
  1. At least one record puts a Pekowi Shawnee village here under Peter Chartier, by Wikipedia's account.
  2. Lewis and Clark are believed to have stopped on their way down the Ohio to Fort Massac.
  3. A federal land office opens. Shawneetown is the outlet for the salt works inland and a gateway for settlers.
  4. The territorial legislature charters the Bank of Illinois at Shawneetown. John Marshall runs it from his house.
  5. The Marquis de Lafayette visits.
  6. The State Bank of Illinois puts up its Greek Revival bank on Main Street at a cost of $80,000. The cornerstone is laid August 3, 1839.
  7. The state bank fails (June 1842 by Wikipedia; the DNR says it suspended in 1843). Other banks use the building from 1854 into the 1930s.
  8. The river floods the town in 1875, 1882, 1883, 1884 and 1898, as a resident counted for PBS in 2019.
  9. The Ohio River flood of January and February devastates the town. Most residents move about three miles inland to build a new Shawneetown, and the county seat follows.
  10. The bank is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  11. The original John Marshall House is torn down and replaced by a reproduction.
  12. PBS NewsHour reports that residents who stayed cannot get flood insurance.
  13. Population 113, down from 193 in 2010. The Peeples Houses, among the oldest brick houses in town, are gone and removed from the National Register.
  14. Landmarks Illinois lists the bank among the state's most endangered places for the second time.

Some stories here are local tradition. Wikipedia repeats a legend that the Shawneetown bank turned down Chicago's first bonds because no city so far from a navigable river could last, and a 1937 photo caption says Abraham Lincoln and Robert Ingersoll had law offices in the Posey Building. We found no firmer source for either.

What's left

A bank, a few blocks and empty lots

An empty lot and trailers on Main Street, April 2013, on the block where the Peeples Houses stood
An empty lot and trailers on Main Street, April 2013, on the block where the Peeples Houses stood · Photo: Nyttend, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Old Shawneetown is a grid of streets behind the Ohio River levee, at the Illinois end of the Shawneetown Bridge to Kentucky. The State Bank of Illinois stands at Main and Washington streets: three stories of brick with a limestone front, five columns and a broad flight of steps up from the street. The Illinois DNR lists it as a state historic site at 280 Washington Street, presently closed for tours. Landmarks Illinois put it on its most endangered list in 2009 and again in 2024, reporting a leaking roof and no interior repairs.

In town, photos from 2013 and 2016 show the former City National Bank, a brick storefront that was Logsdon's Tavern and then Hogdaddy's Saloon, an old Texaco station and the brick former Methodist church at Market and Monroe. The Stephen Rowan House on Market Street, dated 1832 in its 2013 photo record, still stood then. The John Marshall House Museum on Main Street is a 1974 reproduction on the original site; we found no current opening hours. The video posted January 2026 shows the bank, the saloon building, the Texaco station, the Marshall House and the church still standing. Between the old buildings are empty lots and house trailers. All homes are private.

The historic maps show the change. On the 1916 Shawneetown sheet the town is a dense grid on the river with the Kentucky line in the river. The 1959 sheet labels it Old Shawneetown, with the toll bridge to Kentucky and fairgrounds to the west. By 1996 it shows a levee along the old grid and a Shawneetown State Memorial picnic area to the west.

  • State Bank of Illinois (1839–41), closed for tours
  • Former City National Bank
  • Logsdon's Tavern building
  • Former Methodist church, Market and Monroe
  • Stephen Rowan House (1832)
  • John Marshall House reproduction (1974)
  • Ohio River levee and the Shawneetown Bridge to Kentucky
USGS topographic map of the Village of Old Shawneetown on the Ohio River at the IL 13 bridge
USGS The National Map, topo. The village grid between the Ohio River and IL 13, with the bridge to Kentucky to the southeast and Old Route 13 to the northwest.
Aerial view of the street grid of Old Shawneetown beside the Ohio River
Aerial imagery, same area. Houses and empty lots on the old grid, the levee and the river.

Historic maps

Old Shawneetown on USGS maps, 1916–1996

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Old Shawneetown, 1916
Shawneetown sheet, 1916, 1:62,500 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Harrisburg is the nearest city. IL 13 runs east from Harrisburg through New Shawneetown to the old town on the river. From Evansville, the route crosses into Kentucky and comes over the Ohio on the Shawneetown Bridge from the south.

USGS topographic map of IL 13 from Harrisburg to Old Shawneetown on the Ohio River, with routes drawn on it

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Harrisburg23.3 miabout 29 min
  1. From downtown Harrisburg, take West Poplar Street.0.4 mi
  2. Turn left on North Commercial Street (US 45 and IL 34).0.3 mi
  3. Turn right on IL 13 and follow it east through Shawneetown.22.2 mi
  4. Turn left onto the old State Route 13 into Old Shawneetown.0.2 mi
  5. Turn right on Washington Street, then right on Locust Street.0.2 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • IL 13 is the main highway through Shawneetown to the Ohio River bridge; Wikipedia gives 3 miles from the old town to Shawneetown and 23 to Harrisburg.
  • The town lies in the Ohio River floodplain behind a levee. Check river stages in a wet spring.
  • Homes in the village are private, and the bank is closed for tours. Stay on the streets and sidewalks.
  • In the video posted January 2026, loose dogs surrounded the creator on foot and one bit her coat.

Photos

Old Shawneetown in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Old Shawneetown?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Old Shawneetown

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Illinois index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. Wikipedia, "Old Shawneetown, Illinois", retrieved October 2026: the Pekowi village, Lewis and Clark, the 1816 bank charter, the Chicago bonds legend, Lafayette's 1825 visit, the 1937 flood and move, the 1939 courthouse, the 2010 and 2020 census, the distances on IL 13.
  2. Wikipedia, "Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site", retrieved October 2026: the 1812 land office, the salt trade, John Marshall's bank, the $80,000 building, the August 3, 1839 cornerstone, the 1841 opening, the June 1842 failure, the sale to Joel Matteson.
  3. Illinois DNR, Shawneetown Bank, read October 29, 2026: "Presently Closed for Tours," 280 Washington Street, 1839–1841, the 1843 suspension, banks from 1854 to the 1930s, the 1972 National Register listing.
  4. Landmarks Illinois, "Shawneetown Bank State Historic Site: 2024 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois": the 2009 and 2024 listings, the leaking roof, no interior repairs, the move three miles inland after 1937.
  5. Cat Wise, PBS NewsHour, May 28, 2019: the floods of 1875 to 1898, the residents who stayed, no flood insurance.
  6. Wikipedia, "John Marshall House Museum" and "Robert and John McKee Peeples Houses", retrieved October 2026: the 1974 demolition and reproduction; the Peeples Houses no longer standing and delisted in January 2020.
  7. ghosttowns.com, "Shawneetown": road (2WD), best time, the abandoned buildings.
  8. Whits Life, "Exploring a forgotten river town in Southern Illinois", YouTube, posted January 17, 2026: the video on this page; the streets, the closed saloon, an open bar, the Marshall House and the loose dogs as they were that winter.
  9. Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits