Photo tour of Carmi, Illinois

The music for this song was composed by Jonathon Edwards Spilman in 1836. He entered the ministry in 1858 and became pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in 1881. This church had been organized by … [Read more...] about Flow Gently Sweet Afton

I'm sure there are a lot of us who remember our parents and grandparents taking us for rides in the country, typically on Sunday afternoons. As we grew older, and once cars were accessible to the … [Read more...] about Sunday drives through the countryside

For generations the quickest way to all points distance from Carmi was the rails. Today the depot, the hotels and warehouses are all gone, but the rails remain. For many, the road to war began with a … [Read more...] about Leaving the hometown by rail

The land for the Old Graveyard was donated by Edwin Webb upon his death in 1858. It's likely however that some graves were already on the location. Today most of the graves are unmarked, as many of … [Read more...] about Carmi’s Old Graveyard

A surprising amount of Carmi history still stands downtown, including the Webb-Hay house, just down the sidewalk from the Old Graveyard and across the street from the Robinson-Stewart House. A great … [Read more...] about A historical corner in downtown Carmi obscured by fog

James "Old Beaver" Ratcliff built the Ratcliff Inn in 1828, and was once considered one of the finer hotels in the state of Illinois. The White County Historical Society bought the structure in 1960 … [Read more...] about Old Beaver’s inn still stands

The New Deal brought work to the unemployed during the Great Depression, and one way Carmi benefited was a new post office in 1938. Inside is a mural by Davenport Griffin from 1939 titled 'Service to … [Read more...] about The New Deal comes to Carmi

A genealogy library was established by the society in 1988 by Charlene Shields and Janet Armstrong, with a strong assist by Janet Pritchett. It enjoyed the financial and personal sponsorship of Mary … [Read more...] about Where Carmi and White county history sleeps