In 1923, the Board of Supervisors for Hancock County, Illinois voted to build an orphanage to care for children within the county. County children to this point were cared for at an orphanage outside of county boundaries.) Land at 136 Wabash Avenue, Carthage, was purchased in 1923; upon completion of construction the Children’s Memorial Home was dedicated on May 6, 1925. By year’s end, 22 children were in residence. With strong support from the community, the Home operated until October, 1935.
The Historical Society has a dedicated binder of information regarding the Home and its residents. It includes newspaper articles, a transcript of incorporation papers, a chronology of significant events, and a list (with some details) of children who lived there.
Please contact the Society for additional information about these children or the Home.
Hancock County is located about forty miles north of the center of the state, on its west line, and within what was known as the “Military Bounty Land Tract.” Adams County line is to the south, McDonough and Schuyler to the east and Henderson to the north. Its western boundary is the channel of the Mississippi River. Directly across the river and to the north is the state of Iowa and across the river to the south is the state of Missouri. The county is 30 miles long, 24 miles wide and constitutes 795 square miles. It contains 25 townships that were designed to be 6 square miles each although due to the irregular nature of those with boundaries on the river, there are a few exceptions. The central part of the county is composed of prairie land and rich soil needed for productive agriculture. “Crooked Creek” (a.k.a. LaMoine River) and Bear Creek provide needed water to the pioneers who settled inland.
The county also contains rich sources of limestone found along the river bluffs in the county from Henderson County on the north, to the town of Warsaw to the south. . Today, visitors delight in seeing the replication of the original Nauvoo Mormon Temple which historical accounts report as built of this limestone.
As early as 1840 or ’41,’ a deposit of geodes was found in the vicinity of the now non-existent village of Montebello, north of the present town of Hamilton. Today, rock collectors still find fascination with these, and other rocks and fossils found in the area. Tourists will also find Eagle watching near the Mississippi River Bridge between Hamilton, IL and Keokuk, Iowa in the winter months. In mid January the tri-state area hosts a celebration of not only the eagle watching, other forms of river wildlife, and also Native American culture and a variety of related arts and crafts.