Welcome to Forgotonia

I have posted a couple of entries in the past about the Spoon River Bridge (located in an area made famous by the Spoon River Anthology) being listed as one of the “most endangered” historic sites in Illinois.

Two weekends ago, I set out to take in the sights of the bridge and anything else interesting along the way.

Taking in the turns (and the little towns) along Highway 136

As we left Macomb and headed into Fulton County, the charmingly self-contained, yet ghost-town-y feel of one of the first little towns on the way, Table Grove, IL, was heightened by the cold wind and gray sky.

The “Antiques” shop had (for some reason) a sheet of plywood nailed above the door with the hand-stenciled words BOYCOTT SPEED LUBE. But it and most of the other stores around the small square seem to be abandoned and /or filled with loose junk, the kind of which that might be left over after a garage sale. The little store advertising “The future of TV” on its sign appears to have ceased operations decades ago, at least judging by its storefront contents. Only the bar, Rick’s Place (with its marquee outside stating “It’s mushroom time,” which the locals understand), appeared to be open and drawing customers.

See some highlights below from this mini-venture into our “forgotten” land.

(Or check out this and other Forgottonia-region shots on Flickr.)

I misspoke the other day when I mentioned that the Bernadotte Bridge is on the list of endangered places in Illinois. I might have made it sound like the bridge was just added to 2009 list (which was released just this week). But it turns out that’s OLD news, yo. The Bernie Dot bridge is endangered, but it’s on the “archived” list.  The new addition for this region is in fact an old-fashioned, family-owned pharmacy in Canton. After reading about it (see an excerpt below), I hope both it and the Bernie Dot Bridge can be saved!

2009 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places

Lewis Pharmacy

“The interior of the historic pharmacy remains virtually unchanged from its opening in 1915, when it was termed the finest drug store in Illinois. The shop retains its original cabinetry, booths, soda fountain, checkerboard floor and decorative art glass. The pharmacy was operated by the Gustine family until 1937, when it was sold to the Lewis family who operated it for an additional 72 years. An elderly Edward Lewis, Jr. finally retired and closed the pharmacy in February. The hope is to find a new owner that would like to preserve this historic institution, but if an appropriate buyer can not be found, the furniture and fixtures will soon be sold at auction. While Canton is an Illinois Main Street community, it does not currently have a local landmark program to protect historic buildings from demolition.”

For a detailed list of all 155 sites, visit the “Ten Most” Archives.

(P.S. This makes me wonder about the old soda fountain in Macomb’s Ford Hopkins drug store on the square. Anyone know how much of the soda fountain counter in there is original?)

(P.P.S. Sadly, here is a list of places already lost.)

According to an Associated Press story yesterday, something in Fulton County has been named to the watch list of endangered historic places. The story had about a sneeze’s worth of information, though, so I went in search of some more deets.

Apparently (according to this site) the item in need of preservation is the bridge in Bernadotte—pronounced by the locals sometimes as “Bernadette,” like as in Bernadette Peters, or “Bernie Dot” (which totally just makes me giggle every time I hear it).

But giggling aside, I hope the old bridge can indeed be saved, because, for among other reasons,

“…It spans the Spoon River in an area that gained notoriety after poet Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology was published 1915.”

PS: Thank Wikipedia for this helpful bit of history:

The unincorporated village of Bernadotte, in Fulton County, which is four miles north of Ipava on the Spoon River, has the distinction of having once been considered as the site for the capital of Illinois, prior to the capital being located at Vandalia in 1820. Vandalia was selected over Bernadotte by the difference of one vote.

(But Vandalia, of course, got the boot, too.)