Vishnu Springs
Encyclopedia
Vishnu Springs is a ruined resort town located in a west-central McDonough County, Illinois
river valley. Not much of the town remains today, however a few buildings still exist. The townsite is located in Tennessee Township
.
god Vishnu
because of the supposed healing power of the water.
Near the start of the 20th century, a man named Darius Hicks took steps to start a town and health resort on the land around Vishnu Springs. He divided the land owned by his family into plots and sold them for $30 each. The centerpiece of the town was a three-story hotel named the Capitol Hotel which was built to attract people seeking the health and spiritual effects of the spring. The town featured two stores: a blacksmith shop and a restaurant. Transportation was provided by horse and buggy from the nearby town of Colchester, Illinois
. Later, Hicks added parks, a fishing pond, a racetrack, and a schoolhouse.
Despite Hicks’ efforts, the town never prospered. Transportation was difficult due to the lack of rail lines or an easily navigable river. Hicks left the resort town in 1903, and indifferent management let the town decay. By the 1920s most of the businesses had closed, large numbers of guests stopped visiting, and the town could be considered abandoned.
A man named Ira Post attempted to revive the resort in 1935. Post marketed the area as a vacation and picnic area that had limited success until the 1950 when Post died. In 1968 a woman named Alfred White and a man named Albert Simmons tried to reopen the restaurant and country music attraction. In the 1970s a group of students from Western Illinois University
started a commune on the land. The commune sustained itself with farming, livestock, and occasional music festivals. The hotel was once-again abandoned by 1982.
Most of the town is gone today, however the hotel still stands. Much of the hotel has been ruined by vandals and decay. The land was donated to Western Illinois University
in 2003 as a wildlife refuge and a place for conservation and research. There are longstanding rumors that the land is haunted by the ghosts of those who once lived in the thriving town.
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
river valley. Not much of the town remains today, however a few buildings still exist. The townsite is located in Tennessee Township
Tennessee Township, McDonough County, Illinois
Tennessee Township is located in McDonough County, Illinois. The population was 408 at the 2000 census.- External links :***...
.
History
Throughout the 1880s groups as large as 2,000 people gathered in a western Illinois river valley to drink natural spring water that was said to have medicinal properties capable of solving a variety of physical and psychological ailments. Some time in the 1880s, the land was named Vishnu Springs after the HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
god Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
because of the supposed healing power of the water.
Near the start of the 20th century, a man named Darius Hicks took steps to start a town and health resort on the land around Vishnu Springs. He divided the land owned by his family into plots and sold them for $30 each. The centerpiece of the town was a three-story hotel named the Capitol Hotel which was built to attract people seeking the health and spiritual effects of the spring. The town featured two stores: a blacksmith shop and a restaurant. Transportation was provided by horse and buggy from the nearby town of Colchester, Illinois
Colchester, Illinois
Colchester is a city in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,493 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the provincial town of Colchester, England.-Geography:Colchester is located at ....
. Later, Hicks added parks, a fishing pond, a racetrack, and a schoolhouse.
Despite Hicks’ efforts, the town never prospered. Transportation was difficult due to the lack of rail lines or an easily navigable river. Hicks left the resort town in 1903, and indifferent management let the town decay. By the 1920s most of the businesses had closed, large numbers of guests stopped visiting, and the town could be considered abandoned.
A man named Ira Post attempted to revive the resort in 1935. Post marketed the area as a vacation and picnic area that had limited success until the 1950 when Post died. In 1968 a woman named Alfred White and a man named Albert Simmons tried to reopen the restaurant and country music attraction. In the 1970s a group of students from Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
started a commune on the land. The commune sustained itself with farming, livestock, and occasional music festivals. The hotel was once-again abandoned by 1982.
Most of the town is gone today, however the hotel still stands. Much of the hotel has been ruined by vandals and decay. The land was donated to Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University
Western Illinois University is a public university founded in 1899 as Western Illinois State Normal School. Like many similar institutions of the time, Western Illinois State Normal School focused on teacher training for its relatively small body of students. As the normal school grew, it became...
in 2003 as a wildlife refuge and a place for conservation and research. There are longstanding rumors that the land is haunted by the ghosts of those who once lived in the thriving town.
Ira & Reatha T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary
The property is now known as the Ira & Reatha T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary and is operated by the Western Illinois University Foundation as a wildlife sanctuary and study area for the university's students.External links
- Ira & Reatha T. Post Wildlife Sanctuary - official site at Western Illinois University
- Friends of Vishnu Springs - History