Pope County Historical Society - The Packet

01/21/2025

These are at the museum and they are not labeled. Anyone know any of these people??

01/12/2025

Pope County Historical Society invites you to join us January 28th, 6 pm, at the Pope County Historical Society Museum, in Golconda, as southern Illinois historian, Ed Annable presents “Six Years in the Illinois Territory 1812-1818”. Ed will share the history of southern Illinois when Johnson County spanned river to river and as far north as the towns of Carbondale and Marion, before Illinois became a state. Pope County was created in 1816 from portions of Johnson and Gallatin Counties. He shares stories of the pioneers who dared to come to this once wild territory where Indians hunted and lived, where the Spanish, French, English and the United States all vied for the land. Through his stories we can follow the struggles of the people and how the Territory finally became a state. Ed with his wife Diane have created the book “Six Years in the Illinois Territory 1812-1818” for the enjoyment of those interested in the history of Southern Illinois. We will livestream the program on the Pope County Historical Society page.

12/18/2024

Pope County High School class of 1983 needs a frame for this picture. The school donated the class pictures to the museum a while back.
We want to preserve these.
Please talk with your classmates about giving a donation and then contact the society.

12/05/2024

Enjoyed a visit with Mike McMerney at the Pope County Historical Society Museum. He is the author of the book written on necked discoid gravestones.
Two stones that needed repair have been donated to the museum. The descendants of the people buried where the tombstones were have replaced the stones.

12/04/2024

We are currently working on scanning old legal documents for people who made requests.
We are working with documents from the Circuit Clerk's office here in Pope County.
Our website has a list of the documents available. If you are interested you can search the lists and contact us.
[email protected]

12/02/2024

We will be at the courthouse on Wed. Dec. 4th scanning records. If you would like us to pull a case file for you, please let us know and we will notify you of the cost for digitizing it. Then we can scan it on our next visit. Here is a link to all the indexes to these valuable files -

Pope County Illinois was created in 1816. The society has worked since 1966 to collect artifacts and items of interest regarding the county's history. Family genealogy is important to the society.

11/23/2024

11/20/2024

Come to the museum this Saturday or Sunday and vote (by putting money in a can) for your favorite tree decorated by local people. Money will go to our building fund. Come share some cheer!

11/13/2024

The Pope County Historical Society is holding a
Holiday Mini-Tree Decorating Contest.
To participate you will pay for and pick up your $2.00 tree. and details for the contest at either the Not-So-New or the Historical Society Museum during open hours.

Decorated trees are to be dropped off at the museum before November 17(new date) and will be displayed there.
Voting will be by monetary donations. All money collected will go to the building fund for much needed repairs.
Winners will be announced on December 7 with the winner being awarded an air fryer.
Trees will be returned to the participant after judging.

Picture is similar.

11/13/2024

Pope Pioneer!!!
We are happy to welcome Jamie Wolf as our most recent person to receive a Pope Pioneer Certificate. The early settler is William P. Griffin who was in Pope County, IL in 1860.

Send a message to learn more

11/08/2024

The Pope County Historical Society will hold it's monthly meeting on the third Tuesday this month, November 19th at 6 p.m.
Our speaker this month is Todd Carr.
By 1830, all roads led to the high water road at Ford's Ferry Ohio. Here a band of highwaymen were ready to rob and kill unsuspecting pioneers on their way to southern Illinois. Join us as we explore the life and death of Satan's Ferryman, James Ford and the Ford's Ferry Gang.
Come join us.

11/08/2024

Upcoming Programs at the Pope County Historical Society Museum - 6 p.m. each night. We hope to see you there - More programs will be added soon!
Nov 19 - Todd Carr - Satan's Ferryman, the Story of Ford's Ferry
No meeting in December
Jan. 28 - Ed Annable - Six Years in the Illinois Territory
Feb. 25 - Mark Motsinger - The Old Soldiers' Reservation
March 25 - Anthony Fleege - Medical and Funeral Advances in the Civil War
April 22 - Darrel Dexter - Removing the Sheets: Ku Klux Klan in Southern Illinois
May 27 - Gillum Ferguson - Illinois in the War of 1812
July 22 - Krystal Wilson - Southern Illinois Literature and Using Genealogy in the Classroom
August 26 - Krist Thodoropoulos - Dept of Defense MIA Recovery Methods
Sept. 23 - Rick Allen - The One-Word Key to Solving Most Brick Wall Problems in Genealogy

11/02/2024

An early map of wagon trails in Illinois, dated 1819-1820, from the Chicago Historical Society collection that was in the “Trails to Rails” transportation history book of Illinois. When Illinois became a state in 1818 the population had reached some 40,000, with most being in southern Illinois along the Mississippi, Wabash and Ohio Rivers due to ease of transportation along those waterways. The rest of the state was “a howling wilderness” where Indians outnumbered the whites three to one. Kaskaskia was the first state capital in 1818, and Vandalia became capital in 1819, though the first meeting wasn't held there until late 1820.