Du Quoin, Illinois

City: Du Quoin

County: Perry

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 37.9833, -89.2500

Known throughout the nineteenth and early-twentieth century as "Duquoin," Du Quoin is located in southwestern Illinois thirty miles southwest of Mount Vernon, Illinois. It was named after a Native chieftan whose name most often appears in the historical record as Jean Baptiste Ducoigne. The U.S. Post Office Department established a post office in the original town of "Duquoin" on December 28, 1844. The town was officially platted in its present location on September 20, 1853, and most of its residents relocated to the present location, which was closer to the Illinois Central Railroad line, in 1854. It was incorporated as a town in July 1857, and incorporated as a city in February 1861. The population of the city ballooned between 1850 and 1860. After trains transitioned to coal power, the city became a major coal supplier. During the Civil War, its location along the Illinois Central Railroad line made it of strategic importance for the transport of both troops and supplies. By 1864, it boasted 2,500 residents. The city's name was not changed to its current spelling until well after the Civil War.

Webster's New Geographical Dictionary (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1988), 348; James N. Adams, comp., Illinois Place Names (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Society, 1989), 345; General History of Perry County, Illinois 1827-1988 (Illinois: Perry County Historical Society, 1988), 10-11.