The little village of Holland which is found on the county line between Effingham and Shelby is in section 22.  The town was at first called Barlow but then changed to Holland.  In 1896 the C and E. I. Railroad came through and Holland was surveyed by David Carlin for Mary A. Burk in 1898.  Holland would be one of the last towns’ platted out in Effingham County. 

Two railroads went through Liberty Township both running North and South.    Beecher City was located on the Springfield Division of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in which the roadbed was removed in 1985.  Holland was founded on the Chicago&Eastern Illinois Railroad, which was later to become a part of the Union Pacific Railroad. 

The only village in Banner Township was Shumway.  It was named after P. B.    Shumway who was a railroad engineer.  It was platted by the Chicago & Paducah Railroad Company in 1863 but did not sell lots until 1874.  It was situated in section 33 at the junction of the railroad with the southern branch going into Altamont and the southeastern branch going into Effingham.  Originally the post office was called Tolerance in 1874 and was for several years, but was changed to Shumway later. The Chicago and Paducah Railroad would later be bought out by the Wabash Railroad and its roadbed abandoned in 1936.   The remains of the elevated road bed across the Little Wabash River bottom outside of Effingham can still be seen to the west of Illinois route 33.

Douglas Township also is home to an area that was known locally as "Bull Flat" which was more of a community than a town. These were mostly early settlers who came in from Kentucky and Tennessee and other resident of the county seemed to make the most of the customs of the "Flatters". They made the most of how they consumed hard whiskey and loved to dance. How it picked up the name Bull Flat is unknown.

The other small settlement in Douglas Township would be St. Mary's or   Green Creek, which is in section 22 of North Part Douglas in 1860.  It was platted by H.H. Mette and Ferdinand Kaufman and was surveyed by James Anderson.   Ground was set aside for a church and 56 lots but none were ever sold.  It did maintain a post office for awhile. 

Also a speculation town called TA-HA-NAH was laid out in section 17 in south part Douglas.  It had 450 lots, which was platted by Ephram Obear of St. Louis and surveyed by Rowland A. Howard on July 26, 1857.  He thought that the Brough Railroad (later the Vandalia) would go through his town.  He was only able to sell five lots to a Canall Lauff for $8.00 apiece and two lots to Ellen Muir for $5.00 each.    I could find no other record of this town and most likely this large enterprise was abandoned with the railroad coming through Effingham.

The Springfield Division of the Baltimore and Ohio (which is now gone) entered the township from the North along with the former C&E.I. Railroad  and would converge upon the little hamlet of Moccasin and pass out to the south end of the township.     Also, the Chicago and Paducah Railroad later the Wabash Railroad enters the township in section 13 and travels southwest into Altamont.  It was removed in sometime in the 1920's.   

Moccasin the village lies in Sections 9 and 16 in Moccasin Creek Township.  John Maguire surveyed it on April 26, 1872 for Benjamin Jones, Joseph Yarnall and J. H. Miller who owned the land.  Most of the business moved to Moccasin from the town of Boo Hoo, which was, located a half-mile west of present Moccasin.   When the B&O came through most of Boo Hoo was skidded into Moccasin.  In its heyday Moccasin once boasted a three-year high school located east of the Union Pacific tracks (former C&E.I.) on the north side of the Moccasin Road. 

The other town is Blue Point or sometimes it called the Blue Point Lutheran Community.   It was located in the southwest corner of Section 24 of the township.    It was founded along the old Chicago and Paducah Railroad and was a shipping point for livestock and grain.  At one time it had a cold beer storage Plant that shipped a carload of beer a week.  All that remains is the St. Paul Blue Point Lutheran Church. 

Ewington is truly a ghost town for nothing but the cemetery remains anymore.  It was founded in the southeast part of the county in sections 35 and 36.   The old courthouse is long gone much of the structure of the town was obliterated with the changes made in old route 40 during the 1950's and when the railroad came through in 1870.   The land was mostly rolling hills for the most part and it was perched upon the bluffs of the Little Wabash River.  The coming of the railroad to the east where Effingham is sealed its doom as a town.  Ewington was platted as a town on land donated by Joseph and James Duncan and surveyed by William J. Hankins, the first county surveyor with forty-one lots in 1835. However, it was started as a "camp" for workman working on the Old National Road and building a bridge across the Little Wabash River at a much earlier date. We know that a sawmill was there in 1832-33 and that Judge Gillenwaters kept a tavern a bit west of Ewington from 1833 until he moved into Effingham. It officially became a village in 1855 and after 1860 went into great decline. It was a rough and tumble place in the early days, especially when the railroad workers who were working on the Illinois Central were working in the county. As there was no Effingham yet their center of operations were located at Ewington. Many of them had the opportunity to sleep off their drunkenness in the county jail. The first roads in the county were laid out in Ewington north to Shelbyville and south to Fairfield. Mail came through once a week over the National Road via Terre Haute to St. Louis. Also, the Shelbyville road was used as a weekly mail route. While Freemanton has the distention of being the first platted town in Effingham County, Ewington most likely is the older of the two.

Funkhouser is a small village platted by John J. Funkhouser and Wilson Funkhouser in 1869. It was located in Section 34  and had a plat of 132 regular size lots and four oversize lots. It was located on the old Pennsylvania Railroad and the National Road about one mile West of Ewington.  It would be the second town platted by the Funkhouser family.   In its heyday it had a large apple orchard north of town and a tomato canning plant.  Today it has a few houses along the side of the road.

Much has been written about Teutopolis already but it was the formation of Teutopolis, which was set up as a haven for German Catholics from Cincinnati, that would literally open the doors of Effingham county for the German migration into it. Teutopolis is located along the Old Pennsylvania Railroad and the old National Road, and prior to the arrival of the railroad the residents of Teutopolis had to journey three miles to the west in Effingham for their rail needs. It was the shipment of the church organ pipes into Effingham that almost resulted in what has come to be known as the "Dutchtown War". In addition to Teutopolis itself there once was a small location that was called Masqulets' Place. Here Father Masqulet moved three miles west of the present Teutopolis Church and erected a second log church. The dissention of the parish was so great he felt it was better to build a church and minister to it own his own land. We know that he built the church and started a graveyard and that a few homes were located nearby. Mr. Charles Eversman hints that even perhaps he was going to start a town there. It would seem that the church and small site would be abandoned in the late 1850's with the mending of parish dissention and almost lost from memory.

St. Francis Township did not have the savoriest reputation in the early years of Effingham County. There was a small settlement on the Old National Road in either section 16 or section 10 of the township run by "Kit" Radly. He allegedly kept a hotel but in reality was a gambling den and a rendezvous of a gang of thieves who would prey upon travelers on the old National Road. They also were not above preying on the surrounding German farmers in the area as well. It would not be until the local Germans decided to unite to rid the township of this gang that things would improve. It was alleged that one of the local German farmers went to the local saloon and let it be known that he had sold his cattle. That night the thieves showed up at his isolated cabin to steal his money. Instead a hail of gunfire greeted them by a group of German vigilantes from within the cabin. After this clash most of the robbers seemed to move on to the bend country on the Embarrass River where opposition to thievery did not exist.

Montrose is the only village of substance in the township and is located in section 3. J. B. Johnson who owned the land laid it out and on July 19, 1870 Calvin Mitchell the County Surveyor made the plat. At one time it boasted five general stores, two warehouses, two hotels, two blacksmith shops and a railroad express office and a flourmill.

Altamont is the largest town found in the county west of Effingham. J. W. Conologue who was the first superintendent of the Vandalia Railroad who owned the land where Altamont now stands started thought it was a good location for a town. He had it platted on July 19, 1870 by C.A. Van Allen who was an engineer of the Vandalia Railroad. Mr. Conolouge chose the name Altamont because of the mound located northwest of the new town. Alta means altitude and mont meaning mount or mound. Abner Dutton who erected a storehouse and store on the site bought the first lot sold in Altamont. In all four hundred lots were sold and all of it by private sale not by public auction which makes Altamont a very unusual town in our county. Altamont had many business and manufacturing plants from a very early date including two flouring mills, a wagon factory, a furniture factory and a baby carriage factory.

Mountville was founded along the blacktop about south along the Old National Road in-between section 15 and 16 along the small branch that feeds Big Creek. It had a few houses and a store with a post office established in the 1860’s. It was a notorious site for thieves along the old road. Horse and cattle thieves being frequent visitors to the local tavern. G. H. Melville was the postmaster of Mountville in 1871. When the railroad came in to the north the post office in Mountville was transferred to Altamont. Today Altamont has absorbed Mountville and no trace of the former remains.

Bethlehem was a small community located in section 33 of Mound Township. The Bethlehem Lutheran Church was organized prior to 1860. Around the same time period a plat was made of the town and it had a general store and a post office, and 32 lots in it, however these did not last long. The Bethlehem Lutheran Church’s current building was constructed in 1868 which is the second oldest Church building still in use in Effingham County, the first being St. Francis Church at Teutopolis. 

Dexter, which is found in section 6, was never platted as a town and in point of fact may be called a "suburb" of Freemanton. When the Vandalia Railroad came through in 1870 many folks simply moved over from Freemanton to Dexter. When the post office was moved from Freemanton it was named Dexter and kept in the "new" town. Dexter seems to have had a few stores and a railroad station in its heyday. But like other towns in the county it is a ghost town today.

Grandville as a town was something of an enigma to find. It was located on land owned by John J. Funkhouser and William Clark and surveyed and recorded by Sam Houston on March 2, 1841. It would be in section 5 of Jackson Township west of the Bowling Green Cemetery. It had a public square of 204’ by 404’ and ninety-six lots. Most likely as this land was owned by Funkhouser it was the site of his first store in Jackson Township. Many of the early histories of the county maintain that this was the first store in the county. Grandville seems to have almost ceased to exist as a town by 1883 as Perrin makes little mention of it and says it was finally vacated by legislative enactment.

Boggsville is found in section 22 of Jackson Township. There never were any commercial enterprises there nor were there any lots. It was a termed coined by local residents in the 1970’s for the area. The County did erect signs along the county road letting motorist know they were entering into Boggsville.

Watson the village is located in section 30 of Watson Township the owner of the land was John L. Bernard and platted by the deputy county surveyor into lots on October 26, 1857. As mentioned before officials of the Illinois Central Railroad suggested that a town be placed here and a small storeroom was built. Watson would grow to have many stores and several interesting factories some of which were; wagon and carriage makers, boot and shoe maker, canning factory, stove factory, buggy spoke shop etc. The post office was established in Watson in 1856 with Josh Irwin its postmaster and it was originally called Salt Creek. In 1868 the good citizens of Watson requested its name be changed to Watson

Franklin was a small site of forty lots and surveyed by R. A. Howard for Amos Duhamel and Isaac Greenwood on July 26, 1854. It is found mostly in section 24 of Watson Township. It is not known what became of this town, as Perrin does not mention it in his history of 1883. More than likely it became another town that faded away from memory.

New Schaumberg is a name given to the little Lutheran Church Community located in section 8 of Watson Township. It had a small frame church with a school associated with it as well. A cemetery was located to the east of the church. While never being a town all of their baptism records refer to this "community" as New Schaumberg. This church would later merge with St. John’s Lutheran Church in Effingham and all that remains is the cemetery on Dutch Lane.

The Village of Elliotstown was surveyed and platted June 17, 1854 by the county surveyor R. A. Howard for Smith Elliott who owned the land. It is located in section 32 with part of it going into section 5 of Lucas Township. There were several buildings in the process of being built when the town was platted. In its day it was it fairly a fairly lively little town. It had several stores, doctors, gristmill (one which blew up killing the owner), hotel, wagon factory, a newspaper the "Ellittstown Advocate" and several saloons. When the temperance movement hit the little village of Elliotstown the saloons were gone except a gentleman named Jim Green who kept and sold whiskey by the barrel. The good citizens tried to dissuade him of this practice but he would not do so. So one evening a group of good citizens stole into his smokehouse where the barrel was kept over the well and drilled a hole into it to empty it of its evil. Fearing they would be caught they fled before it was empty. The next morning Mrs. Green’s entire barrel of new soft soap was emptied into the well and no one knew who bore the hole.

Dieterich or Dieterichsburg is found in section 13 and was laid out by M. Dieterich who owned the property. C. A. Van Allen the county surveyor surveyed it on January 8, 1881. The building of the railroad through it sparked Dieterich’s growth. It had several stores, brickyard and other business as well. Today Dieterich is growing again with its industrial b park and community spirit.

Graceville was a village that was located adjacent to Dieterich. C.A. VAN ALLEN the county surveyor for John Grace the landowner surveyed it and it was platted February 5, 1881. But eventually after it was platted it was absorbed by Dieterich.

West Township was crossed on the northeast corner by the old Springfield and Ohio Railroad later the Baltimore and Ohio Southern. The road was abandoned and tracks removed in 1986.

The only town in West Township was Welton named after W. S. Welton and Lucy M. Welton on August 2, 1882 on both sides of the railroad in section 11. Prior to that it was called Gillmore and not withstanding that Mr. and Mrs. Welton named after themselves it is still known by that name yet today. In its day it had a station on the railroad, millinery shop, two blacksmith shops, creamery, telephone exchange and two icehouses. Its post office began operation in 1872. Today there is little left of Gillmore and as the railroad is now gone it is getting harder to find just where it was today.

Limestone Creek was never a town but an area that was started in the early 1830’s. Many of the immigrants working on the Old National Road worked in the quarry for the limestone rock that was used on the road. This quarry was near where Fulfer Creek and Limestone Creek join together in section 8 of Mason Township. When all work stopped on the road in 1834 they became settlers. It was located in the same area as Broomsburg. 

Broomsburg came into being August 6, 1851 when Samuel Broom had George Wright survey 33 lots on his land around his store. According to land records Broomsburg it was between the section 6 and section 7 of Mason Township. It never really grew into a town and it only had a post office and a store. By time Perrin wrote his history of the county in 1883 it was all but forgotten about. Broomsburg is the site of where the first wheat was grown in Effingham County as well as where the first orchards were planted.

Bristol was laid out with 32 lots and platted on June 6, 1851. The owners of the land were A. W. Henry and his father Elijah Henry in section 27 of the township. A post office and blacksmith shop were located there but the town never had much chance to grow for when the Illinois Central came through it missed Bristol by about a mile to the north. So the Henry’s along with others platted a new town called Mason along the railroad and loaded up everything in Bristol and moved it to the new town. Even the store building was loaded up on poles and skidded there. 

Mason was platted February 26, 1853 by Messrs. Henry and Joshiah W. Robinson and Robert M. Rankin who owned the land in section 22. George Wright who was the county surveyor surveyed the plat. It was named after Roswell B. Mason who was a survey engineer of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mason had many business and hotels at the start and even had pretensions of rivaling Effingham. But the Great Depression was hard on Mason and with the closing of its bank it business district went on the decline. Today Mason is barely a former shadow of its former self.

Edgewood was laid out by the Illinois Central Railroad as a prospect town in 1857. Its post office began operation in 1858. The village was incorporated in 1869. Edgewood was a quiet town that had a few stores, blacksmith shop and some light industry in the early 1920’s. An interesting fact of note that when Effingham would not allow Black railroad workers to stay in town after dark, the workers would use a hand car to carry them to Edgewood where they where they were allowed to stay.

Union Township is not traversed by any railroads and its name came from the Webster-Hayne debates of the 1820s, which were being replayed during the 1850’s. "Union one and inseparable" the phrase used by Webster became the name for the township. Later during the Civil War union would be widely used to designate the side of the North.

The only settlement in Union Township was when Hartwig Samilson laid out the small hamlet of Flemsburg on May 7, 1851 by county surveyor George Wright. It consisted 72 lots located around the mill, which was started by Samilson in 1850 in section 29. Today many people and maps wrongly call it Flensburg but the plat and the old histories of the county call it Flemsburg. It did have an early wooden bridge crossing the river as well as a stored and post office. In 1860 a man named Shepard was killed on the bridge by two brothers "Shell’ and "Dick" Russell who had squatted on his land. Shepard took them to court and the court agreed with him that the squatters must move. The Russell’s appealed the decision of the court, but on the Saturday before court would convene Shepard went to Mason for supplies. On his return that night he was met on the bridge by the Russell boys and a Scott Howell and Jacob Booher and knocked off his horse with a heavy club and thrown into the river. The horse was found the following Monday and the saddle was covered in blood. The neighbors suspicious of foul play searched and found the body on a sand bar downstream. The murderers were arrested and tried and their guilt established they were to be hanged. They broke from jail and escaped and were never apprehended.

Hill is a small spot on county maps that appears around the 1920’s. It was not platted as a town and seems to only have had a store, post office and a gas station. Hill is located between Sections 27 and 34 along US Route 45.

The village of Winterrowd sometimes called Tailhold was surveyed and laid out in 1863 by Washington Winterrowd on ground that had belonged to Thomas Scott overlapping sections 24 and 25. It had a store, post office, blacksmith shop and a dozen residences in 1883. Its nickname of Tailhold was acquired when Jacob Winterrowd grabbed onto a cow’s tail and pulled it off. Today it is little more than a wide spot in the road.

Eberle was never a village but a post office and a few residences located nearby. A Dr. Allen established it in 1867 and he was appointed postmaster. Eberle is found at the intersection of section 19,20.29 and 30.