•February 28, 2018•

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

When the settlers began arriving to the vast prairies of central Illinois in the early 1800’s, they found a land of bountiful opportunity for their entrepreneurial spirits.

By 1850 Sullivan was an incorporated village and already bustling with such tradesmen as millers, bakers, lawyers, carriage makers, blacksmiths, a dentist and Joel Earp’s saloon among others.

Added to these were other businesses in Moultrie County with a coal mine in Lovington, a sorghum mill in Bruce and a bottle making plant in Sullivan.

There was a very rich vein of coal running lengthwise through Illinois, and a number of small mines sprang up in central Illinois. Chief among those in what was called the Lovington Triangle, was the Lovington Coal Mining Co. which started operation June 24, 1901.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.

After three attempts, a 902 feet shaft was completed and the 8’ 10” vein of fine quality coal was hoisted above ground. Coal mining was Moultrie County’s leading industry it ceased operation in 1924.

Lovington Coal went from 10 men to more than 300 on the payroll by the time it closed. Muleskinners took care of the mules used to haul coal from the mine shaft.

Doty Patterson also sank a mine shaft in Sullivan in 1873. It was 120’ deep and had a vein 27” thick of very good quality coal but was too shallow to be a commercial success.

To the south of Sullivan the small community of Bruce rose and fell by the railroad.  The Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific railroad ran through the area which was named after a Windsor man, John Bruce, who was on the board of the railroad.

Molasses was a staple in the settlers’ homes, and it was made from sorghum. O. B. and Frank Bragg built a very successful sorghum mill in Bruce. Sorghum is a flowering plant of the grass family used for food and fodder. It is now the fifth most important cereal crop grown in the world.

Prior to WW I, Mike Findlay opened a tall bottle manufacturing plant in Sullivan. He went out of business, and Harold Hinckley started it up again calling it Purity Bottling Works in what became the Sullivan Dairy building.

These tall bottles were used in the construction of sidewalks by turning them upside down and inserting them into the ground. These were found in Old Shawneetown located on the Ohio River when they took up the old sidewalks.

This lost art of bottle sidewalks is having a renaissance particularly in Europe where bottle sidewalks, or paths, adorn many gardens.

Our needs are different today as new generations of entrepreneurs have created modern local businesses such as Agri-Fab, Hydro-Gear, Sullivan Bakery, Mid-State Tanks and The Little Theatre to continue the early settlers’ visions of opportunity on the prairie.