Eliza, Illinois

Eliza is an unincorporated community in Eliza Township, Mercer County, Illinois, United States.[2] Eliza is 9 miles (14 km) north of New Boston.

Eliza, Illinois
Unincorporated community
Eliza, Illinois
Eliza, Illinois
Coordinates: 41°17′45″N 90°58′04″W
CountryUnited States
StateIllinois
CountyMercer
Elevation
696 ft (212 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)309
GNIS feature ID407865[1]

History

The Bishop family settled the town around the 1840s. The grandson John Bishop owned almost all of the town, including his own general store. John also managed his own band he had since 1914. [3] The town also had a basketball team. Their church was named the Eliza Episcopal Church. By the late 1920s, the town had 53 acres of farmland along with a general store, drugstore, church, theater, dancehall, pool hall, and a barber shop among houses and a few community buildings. On November 14th of 1929, John Bishop auctioned off almost all the town, save for 4 houses. [4] His reasons were not officially stated, but could have likely been due to the recent start of the Great Depression in late October. News of the auction was featured in newspapers as far as Ohio, Iowa, and New Jersey.

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Eliza, Illinois
  2. Mercer County General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Illinois Department of Transportation. 1988. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 20, 2012. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  3. Alton Evening Telegraph (Newspaper) |https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61142213/eliza-il-auctioned-2/ |1929. Retrieved 10/15/2020
  4. The Mansfield News (Newspaper) |https://www.newspapers.com/clip/61141783/eliza-il-auctioned/ |1929. Retrieved 10/15/2020


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