In 1835, Free Frank McWorter, a formerly enslaved man, paid $100 for 80 Illinois acres; a year later he founded New Philadelphia, and 191 years later nearly 20 acres entered NPS ownership
Comments Off on In 1835, Free Frank McWorter, a formerly enslaved man, paid $100 for 80 Illinois acres; a year later he founded New Philadelphia, and 191 years later nearly 20 acres entered NPS ownership
September 15, 2026
Nearly two centuries after a formerly enslaved pioneer bought 80 acres of Illinois prairie and founded the first legally registered town in the United States platted by an African American, nearly 20 acres of the historic townsite have officially been…