Friday, August 26, 2022

Lost Towns of Illinois - Bybee, Illinois.

Bybee is a former settlement in Fulton County, Illinois. The small settlement was about 2.7 miles south-southwest of Fairview and 7 miles west-northwest of Canton.


The community was named for David Bybee, who donated land to construct a station on the Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway in 1880. It operated into the 1920s. There was a school, store, and train station on the narrow gauge rail. The Postoffice was established on September 29, 1881, and William Bybee was the Postmaster for the first two years.


Fulton County Narrow Gauge Railway was turned into a standard gauge around 1910. In 1905, two trains per day passed through Bybee, but by 1913, only one train ran per day. The track was torn out of this area when the narrow gauge company discontinued service between Galesburg and Fairview, Illinois.

There is a small cemetery named Bybee Cemetery (aka: Hipple Cemetery), near where this community used to exist. 


Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.