New Philadelphia | |
 Overview from the interpretive site | |
   | |
| Location | Pike County, Illinois |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Barry |
| Coordinates | 39°41′45″N 90°57′35″W / 39.69583°N 90.95972°W |
| Area | 42 acres (17 ha) |
| Built | 1869 |
| Website | www |
| NRHP reference No. | 05000869[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 11, 2005 |
| Designated NHL | January 16, 2009 |
The New Philadelphia National Historic Site is the original site of the now-vanished town of New Philadelphia, Illinois, in the United States. It is located near the western Illinois city of Barry, in Pike County.
Founded in 1836, New Philadelphia was the first town in the United States platted and registered by an African American before the American Civil War.[2][3] The founder, Free Frank McWorter (1777–1854), was a former slave who was able to save money from work and his own business to purchase the freedom of his wife, then himself, and over time, 13 members of his family from Kentucky.[4][5] Several of his freedom purchases were funded by the sale of New Philadelphia lots. The town was integrated and reached a population of about 160 near the close of the Civil War in 1865. A few years later, the town was bypassed by the railroad line leading to its eventual decline; the town lots were generally turned into farmland in the late 19th century, although some survived into the 1920s.
The town site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2009.[1] In 2013, the site was added to the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. It was designated a National Historic Site in 2022.[6]
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Fennell, Christopher C. (2010). "Damaging Detours: Routes, Racism, and New Philadelphia". Historical Archaeology. 44 (1): 138–154. doi:10.1007/BF03376788. ISSN 0440-9213. JSTOR 27820825.
- ^ Walker, Juliet E. K. (1985). "Entrepreneurial Ventures in the Origin of Nineteenth-Century Agricultural Towns: Pike County, 1823-1880". Illinois Historical Journal. 78 (1): 45–64. ISSN 0748-8149. JSTOR 40191820.
- ^ Christopher Fennell, "Historical Landscapes of New Philadelphia, Illinois", University of Illinois
- ^ "New Philadelphia: A First," The Living Museum 71(1 & 2):9.
- ^ "New Philadelphia National Historic Site established as America's 424th national park". National Park Service. Retrieved January 1, 2023.