Friday, November 18, 2005

What If, Again?

I received this email from someone in Shawneetown, IL. “I think probably our area's biggest claim to fame is... that when Chicago's 'founding fathers' wanted to expand their small hamlet, they came to the bank in Old Shawneetown (3 miles East, on the Ohio River) and requested a loan. Our 'founding fathers' (in all their wisdom) said... “NO! Chicago is too far away from Shawneetown and the Ohio River to ever amount to anything”

The main mode of transportation changed with the development of railroads and suddenly Shawneetown, located in close proximity to the Ohio River, wasn’t as strategically located. The town has been in a slow decline ever since.

What if Shawneetown had been the banker of Chicago and assisted that community to develop? What if the residents of Shawneetown had reaped some of the riches from Chicago? What would Shawneetown look like today?

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