Otterville is the home of the first free integrated school in the United States, the Hamilton Primary School, located on Main Street. In 1834, Dr. Silas Hamilton, a local physician, left $4,000 for the construction and operation of a building for educational and religious purposes. A stone-built school was opened in 1836, and the tuition-free education for local students attracted families to the area. The school was razed in 1872, and was rebuilt and enlarged, with the original stones at the base. Classes were held at the school until 1971. George Washington, a slave freed by Dr. Hamilton, studied here, became successful, and established a perpetual scholarship fund for Americans of African descent. He also provided for the erection of a monument to his former master at the school.
Passages that mention Otterville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Jersey County, Illinois1919 · page 169Read the page →
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This congregation are now worshipping in a frame house known as the “Cumberland Presbyterian Church” in the center of Otterville. The Baptists in Otter Creek Township originally worshipped in the second story of the old stone schoolhouse. Some years after the close of the Civil War, they erected a brick church on the Hamilton Primary School lot, near the old stone schoolhouse, Avhich very comfortable structure they still occupy.
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History of Jersey County, Illinois1919 · page 446Read the page →
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dr. Hamilton’s monument The monument erected to Dr. Silas Hamilton, under the provisions of George Washington’s will, is at Otterville, and a cut of it will be found in this work, as will also a cut of the original stone schoolhouse, and the new schoolhouse more recently erected. George Washington was buried in the old cemetery north of the Presbyterian Church in Otter¬ ville, in a grave on the south side of his former master, Dr. Silas Ham¬ ilton, the grave of Gilbert Douglas being on the north side of Dr.
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Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Otterville, 1852 to 1930
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 Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
