Old Rifle Range
Did you know that Effingham County had its own rifle range where The National Guard troops practiced before World War I? Few people seem to know of this spot and fewer still have been able to provide me with the answers to questions about it. The old rifle range is located along the Little Wabash River in the bottoms just South and East of Ewington in the Southwest quarter of the Northeast quarter section 36 of Summit Township. The ground that it sits own is private property and access to it is only by foot or from the river itself. There is a walkway behind the concrete and in front of the river bluff that serves as an access alley where targets could be reset. The wall itself is about seven feet high so that anyone behind the wall would be relatively safe if firing were underway. According to my father-in-law, who is now deceased, they had a "pill box" or "command center" which had a telephone line which ran across the river to where the men would shoot from. Scores would be called back to the drill instructor so he knew how the men were doing. They also had a cable suspension system that allowed the men who would reset the targets to cross the river to reach the target wall.
As to when this range was constructed I have not been able to find out. Judging from the type of cement used it must have been around the circa 1900 era. How long it was used I also have not been able to find out any information to as well. There is not much left anymore except for the crumbling walls and the concrete base that served as the floor of the pill box. It is a quiet, serene place where history happened in our county and time has marched on.