•July 13, 2022•
By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Guest Writer

While growing up in Sullivan, IL has provided me with plenty of nostalgia to write about over the years, the state itself is rich in nostalgia with historical events and many sites to visit. To those of us who were born there her nicknames “Land of Lincoln,” and “The Prairie State” revive significant feelings of pride when we see or hear them.
Prior to the Civil War, and for several years afterward, the Illinois prairie was the western frontier. During the growth and expansion of the country the Illinois Central Railroad was instrumental in settling and populating the state by selling off the land provided by the federal government land grant of 1851. This grant was a charter for the construction of the railroad to span the entire length of the state.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.