The first Euro-American settlers, primarily of Scotch-Irish descent, came to White County, Illinois between 1807 and 1809. The first settlements were near the Little Wabash River and Big Prairie, one of the numerous prairies in the county. Many came through the land office at Shawneetown, which was a port for flatboats which traveled the Ohio River. The second half of the 19th century saw the establishment of the towns of Norris City, Springerton including Mill Shoals. Once the home of a thriving barrel-making industry which depleted the nearby virgin forests Mill Shoals had primarily been an agriculture village until 1939 when oil was discovered in the area. In the early 1970s the oil industry declined steeply and thus returned Mill Shoals to its agricultural roots.
Passages that mention Mill Shoals, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of White County Illinois1883 · page 904Read the page →
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Mill Shoals . — This village is situated on sections 19 and 20, on the banks of Skillet Fork. The land is very level, and was origi¬ nally owned by William Linder. The village was laid out in 1869 by Judge Boggs, of Wayne County, who received one half of forty acres for the work. There is now a population of about 275 per¬ sons. There is a flouring mill, owned by Samuel Burrell, and run by water-power; a saw-mill, owned by the Behymer Co., doing a large business; a lumber manufactory, where lumber is prepared
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History of White County Illinois1883 · page 622Read the page →
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whose father came in 1806, and was probably the first settler in White County. Jacob Hunsinger came in 1818, and Adam Hunsinger in 1819. He cast his first vote in the county on a log at Mill Shoals. Abraham Yaught came the same year. Alexander Hamilton settled here about 1816. Rev. Harris preached the first sermon in the township at the house of Mr. Hamilton. Mr. Ary and Young Funkhoueer came in 1818. Ninian W. Young came to this county in 1822, at the age of thirteen years. He was
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Mill Shoals, 1857 to 1958
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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