Early county notes the Dantown area as a Spanish trading post being the center of Indian activity. Colonel Daniel Conklin of Ohio arrived in Macon County, Illinois, and Conklin platted the Village of Dantown in 1854.
It was about one and a half miles East of Argenta, Illinois.
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| Google map of the area. |
The corn whiskey distillery was the village's employer and friend to all. There were four streets, several stores, about 15 homes, a grist mill, a sawmill, and a tile yard.
Because drinking, gambling, fighting, and flagrant debauchery, got out of hand, the village of Dantown was called "Hell's Half Acre."
After Conklin's death, a heavy whiskey tax during the Civil War and the railroad bypassed the town by one mile to the west. Buildings were dismantled and moved or sold. It didn't take long for Dantown to disappear.
V.D. Ross operated the Dan-town distillery as late as 1910. The area's decline was accelerated when most of Macon County went dry in 1907. Up until then, Dan-Town was producing up to 100 gallons a day.
Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.
Is there a marker where the town was?
ReplyDeleteonly thing i could find was a youtube video showing how to get there/ the general vicinity. I'm hunting for a video someone else might have posted of exploring it.
ReplyDelete