Scott County Commissioners' Court Road Petition, 1849

This collection contains a petition to the Scott County Commissioners’ Court signed by over 100 residents from Scott County, Illinois, seeking funds for the repair of the main wagon road and other roads. The petition is dated March 1849.

Scott County was formally organized on February 16, 1839, with a population of nearly 8,000 by 1850. Once the construction of railroads began in the 1830s, the people in the area noticed that politicians and lawmakers were ignoring the upkeep of the main road, which had poor transportation conditions.

The petitioners began by describing the deteriorating conditions of the roads “from Naples to the Bluffs,” due to the allocation of financial resources to the construction of the railroads. With the completion of the railroad, the petitioners sought the county to service three roads: the main wagon road, a road leading from Naples to Exeter, and another from Naples to Bethel. The repairs requested totaled to approximately $700. The petitioners noted that the county had appropriated $300 previously to the repair of the Clear Lake Bridge.

The Library purchased this collection in 2018 with the support of the Bruce C. Creamer Fund.