Coltonville, Illinois facts for kids
Coltonville was once a small community located in DeKalb County, Illinois, in the United States. It was a place that almost became very important but ended up disappearing.
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History of Coltonville
In June 1839, officials in DeKalb County were looking for a main town to be their county seat. The county seat is like the capital of a county, where important buildings like the courthouse are located.
The County Seat Competition
A man named Rufus Colton, who was the county's main record-keeper (the county clerk), lived in Coltonville. He really wanted his town to be chosen as the new county seat. He tried some tricky ways to make this happen.
He even set up a special election for the county seat and held a court meeting at his own home. But there was a big problem: only people from Coltonville were told about this election!
Sycamore Becomes the County Seat
However, when the DeKalb County Court met at Colton's house, a sheriff arrived with an official paper. This paper, called a court order, said that the courthouse would be built in Sycamore. Sycamore was the town that eventually became the real county seat.
Even without the court order, Rufus Colton's actions were not legal. The state government, the Illinois General Assembly, later officially canceled his election.
Coltonville's Disappearance
Because Coltonville lost the chance to be the county seat, it slowly disappeared. Another community, Brush Point, also faded away after losing to Sycamore.
Today, the name Coltonville lives on as Coltonville Road in the southwestern part of Sycamore. The old town site is located in DeKalb Township, near the cities of DeKalb and Sycamore. The former Coltonville School was located at 41°58′17″N 88°44′10″W / 41.97139°N 88.73611°W.
