Little Egypt (region)

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The Little Egypt region of Illinois

Little Egypt is a term for the extreme southern region of the American state of Illinois. The southern part of Illinois is geographically, culturally, and economically different from the rest of the state, relating more to the culture of the Southern United States.

1 Location
2 Origin of name
3 Geography
4 Politics
5 Economy
6 Culture
7 Major/Notable Cities in Little Egypt
8 List of counties in Little Egypt
9 External links
10 References

[edit] Location

The northern boundary of the Little Egypt region has never been precisely defined, and hence different references will give varying descriptions of what is included in the region.

One potentially defining aspect is geography: Southern Illinois becomes generally flatter as one goes north. Little Egypt is known for being hilly, but where the hills end is not all that clear. One popular boundary is the imaginary line created by the Cities of Marion, Carbondale, and Harrisburg. Inhabinants north of these places refer to the region simply as "Southern Illinois."

Another popular boundary for Southern Illinois is U.S. Highway 50. It runs nearly straight east-west.

Another aspect is forestation: Trees become fewer and farther between as one travels north in Southern Illinois. Before settlement, the far south was completely forested. Toward the north "prairies", large, open grasslands, appeared within the forest. Traveling north, the prairies became larger. Somewhere around Centralia, the area of prairie became greater than the area of forest. But, even there, if you were in a prairie, there was always a wall of trees on the horizon. Somewhere close to Effingham, the smaller prairies merged into the great prairie. There was no longer a wall of trees on the horizon, but rather groves and isolated trees.

A third involves culture. Little Egypt, and most of the rest of Illinois, was originally settled by Southerners. By the 1840s, canals and railroads allowed northern settlers to move directly west to northern Illinois, without coming down the Ohio River and up the state. Little Egypt saw less of this migration, since its riverine walls were for many decades a barrier to east/west rails. Salem, Illinois, had the main east/west rail line from Baltimore, Maryland, to St. Louis.

[edit] Origin of name

The exact origin of these nicknames for this region is not entirely clear, but there appear to be a number of factors that have contributed to their development and popularization over time. One reason that the area became popularly known as Egypt centers on Southern Illinois’ role in supplying grain to northern and central Illinois following the "Winter of the Deep Snow" in 1830–31. Upper Illinois suffered from a long winter and late spring, so crops were not planted until June, and much of that harvest was killed by an early September frost. Southern Illinois had milder weather, however, and produced grain, much of which was shipped north. Wagon trains came south and returned home with corn. Many people believe the similarities with the Bible story of Jacob’s sons going to Egypt to buy grain and survive a famine may have resulted in the nickname. One pioneer, Daniel Brush, founder of Carbondale, recalled in his memoirs how grain was shipped from points on the Big Muddy River and Mississippi River to central and northern Illinois that year. He, too, supports the notion that the role southern Illinois played in feeding those areas led to the rise of the "Egypt" moniker.

Another theory is related to a comparison of the land mass surrounded by the great Mississippi and Ohio Rivers with that of Egypt’s Nile delta region. According to Hubbs, the nickname may date back to 1818, when a large tract of land was purchased at the confluence of the rivers and its developers named it Cairo. Today, the town of Cairo still lies on a peninsula where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Other settlements in that portion of the state have names with Egyptian, Greek or Middle Eastern origins: Thebes, Dongola, Palestine, Lebanon, New Athens, Sparta, and Karnak.

During the American Civil War, anti-slavery citizens of northern Illinois would draw less than flattering parallels between the pro-slavery Confederate sympathizers in southern Illinois and the bondage and injustice inflicted on the Hebrews during their "Egyptian bondage"[1].

These Egyptian influences are concentrated in Little Egypt, but also extend farther south. About one hundred miles south of Cairo, along the Mississippi, lies Memphis, Tennessee, which also was named after an Egyptian city on the Nile with the same name. Memphis also has a giant pyramid for a sporting venue.

Belly dancer Farida Mazar Spyropoulos' appearance at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago under the stage name "Little Egypt" brought fame to the name but she had no connection to the region other than commonality of name. The name of the region appears to have been begun changing after this time; before then "Egypt" was used but not "Little Egypt".

Other derivatives and similarities of the Egyptian theme for the region:

Mounds similar to the Great Pyramids of Egypt located in Cahokia
Egyptian High School, located in the extreme southern portion of the state, whose athletic teams are nicknamed the "Pharaohs"
The man-made Lake of Egypt
A public health agency serving southeastern Illinois, Egyptian Health Department: http://www.egyptian.org/
The nickname of the athletic team members at the region's main university, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the school mascot, Saluki, is the name of a dog breed that originated in Egypt.
The name of SIU Carbondale's student newspaper is the Daily Egyptian: http://www.siude.com
The short line railroad serving the area, the Crab Orchard & Egyptian.
The many oil fields that filled the area in the 40's.

[edit] Geography

Illinois has been partially covered at times by glaciers. However, southern Illinois was covered only partially by the Illinois Glacier and not at all by the Wisconsin Glacier. Thus, the geography of southern Illinois is considerably more hilly and rocky than central or northern Illinois. Areas of southern Illinois are much more similar to the Ozarks than to central or northern Illinois.

Additionally, the rich farm land of northern and central Illinois is not found in southern Illinois. A significant exception being the American Bottom along the Mississippi River. Another exception is the alluvial soils of the Gulf Coastal Plain, a large region which has its northernmost extent in the two river valleys of far southern Illinois. The Mississippi Delta reaches north from the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and ends near Thebes in Alexander County.

The region's other major river, the Ohio River, winds generally southwest, past Shawneetown (home to the state's first bank), Cave-in-Rock, Elizabethtown, and Golconda. Its waters join the Mississippi at Cairo. In ancient times, the Ohio is thought to have flowed a more northerly course through Pope and Pulaski counties. It carved a broad valley there, fit for a major river. But today the underfit Bay Creek and Cache River occupy those valleys.

The hills of Little Egypt can be divided into two areas. The western area, more closely related to the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas, is mostly in southern Jackson, Union, northern Alexander and Johnson counties. The eastern area, more closely related to the Wabash Valley Fault System, is mostly in northern Pope, southern Saline, Gallatin, eastern Johnson and southern Williamson counties.

Much of these hills are covered by the Shawnee National Forest, which includes seven wilderness areas: Garden of the Gods, Bay Creek, Clear Springs, Bald Knob, Burden Falls, Lusk Creek, and Panthers Den.[2]

Of southern Illinois' rivers, only the Mississippi and the Ohio are navigable for modern commerce. The Big Muddy River, Marys River, Saline River and Cache River run their courses in deep southern Illinois. The Kaskaskia River and Wabash River are nearby.

Depending on your definition of Little Egypt's boundaries, there are three interstates in the region. Interstate 57 is the main north-south highway through southern Illinois. It runs through the center of the area. South of Marion is the western terminus of Interstate 24. It runs southeast, crossing into Paducah, Kentucky near Metropolis.

South of its junction with Interstate 24, Interstate 57 bends to the southwest and crosses into Missouri near Illinois' southernmost point by Cairo.

Interstate 64 runs east-west from St. Louis to southern Indiana. It is coextensive with Interstate 57 for a short stretch at Mt. Vernon.

Illinois Route 13 is a four-lane divided highway through the most populated part of the region outside of the St. Louis area from Murphysboro to Harrisburg. U.S. Highway 51 roughly follows the Illinois Central Railroad line north-south through the middle of the entire state. Illinois Route 1 runs north-south along the eastern edge of Little Egypt; Illinois Route 3 parallels the Mississippi River along the western edge of the area.

The Metro-East area near St. Louis has these additional highways:

These are the bridges for automobiles across the Ohio River into Kentucky:

Illinois Route 13 at Old Shawneetown
U.S. Highway 45 at Brookport
Interstate 24 near Brookport/Metropolis
U.S. Highway 51/60 near Cairo

These are the bridges for automobiles across the Mississippi River into Missouri:

U.S. Highway 60 near Cairo
Interstate 57 near Cairo
Illinois Route 146 at East Cape Girardeau
Illinois Route 150 at Chester

These are the bridges for automobiles across the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area:

Interstate 255 in Monroe County - Jefferson Barracks Bridge
Interstate 55/70/64 at East St. Louis - Poplar Street Bridge
Eads Bridge at East St. Louis
Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge at East St. Louis
McKinley Bridge at Venice (closed)
Interstate 270 near Granite City - Chain of Rocks Bridge
U.S. Highway 67 at Alton - Clark Bridge

A free ferry crosses the Ohio River at Cave-in-Rock. A toll ferry crosses the Mississippi at Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, near Chester. Four other ferries operate in Calhoun County, which is rarely considered part of Little Egypt.

Amtrak passenger rail's City of New Orleans provides service to Effingham, Centralia, and Carbondale. Amtrak's Illini Service, comprising the morning Saluki and afternoon Illini, also serve DuQuoin as well as the above three stops.

[edit] Politics

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Southern Illinois as a political entity has historically been a conservative Democratic region. Even as the political parties have changed, Southern Illinois has consistently voted for Democratic candidates more times than not since 1818. It has been a common trend, however, for the voters in Southern Illinois to vote Democratic in state and local elections while at the federal level for the more conservative candidate and not always the party affiliation. For example, in the Election of 1860, Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln did not win a single county located in Southern Illinois and instead the region heavily favored the more conservative Stephen A. Douglas. The same happened in the 1864 election as well. Another example of the voting trend is in 1960 when all but four Southern Illinois counties voted for Richard Nixon. Another break with the Democratic Party occurred in 1980 when Ronald Reagan won all but two Southern Illinois counties (Saline and Alexander). Again in 1984 Reagan won all but four counties in Southern Illinois (St. Clair, Franklin, Gallatin and Alexander). More recently Bill Clinton easily won the Southern Illinois region in both 1992 and 1996. Proof of its conservative heritage can also be seen in the last two presidential elections. In the Election of 2000, a definite shift again appears with Democrat Al Gore only winning seven counties. In 2004, Republican George W. Bush carried all but three counties in Southern Illinois.

Throughout the mining regions of Southern Illinois, such as Franklin, Saline, Gallatin, Hardin, Perry, Union and Williamson Counties, Democrats generally hold most local elected positions. Jackson County and Carbondale, the home of Southern Illinois University, are other Democratic strongholds. For example, Jackson county was one of fifteen counties in Illinois to support John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential Election. The Metro-east area of Illinois, adjacent to St. Louis and commonly included in the "downstate" or Southern Illinois region also votes consistently for Democrats.

In the 1998 gubernatorial election, Democrat Glenn Poshard won handsomely in every county in Southern Illinois over his moderate Republican opponent, George Ryan. In many counties, Poshard won the votes of over 90% of the population due mainly to being a native of Southern Illinois.

In the 2006 gubernatorial election, Southern Illinois played a decisive role in the reelection of Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich against Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka. The election results showed Blagojevich winning every county in Southern Illinois except Randolph, Perry, Washington, Pulaski, and Jackson Counties. The presence of two Southern Illinois politicians who ran on third party tickets, Randy Stufflebeam of Belleville and Rich Whitney of Carbondale, probably helped Blagojevich's race, and definitely contributed to Topinka winning Jackson County. This trend was relatively common in all Southern Illinois counties.

[edit] Economy

1940 Oil field near Salem, Illinois

There are two main centers of commerce for southern Illinois. They consist of the of St. Louis, Missouri Metropolitan area (home to approximately 2.8 million people), and the Carbondale, Marion, Herrin, Harrisburg area (home to approximately 245,000 people).

The main agricultural products of southern Illinois are crops such as corn, soybeans and apples. In recent years there has been a flourishing of wineries in the Shawnee region.

Southern Illinois also has significant coal deposits, however since the late 1980s the coal industry has suffered significant decline due to the decreased demand for high sulfur coal. The collapse of the coal industry has had profound and lasting impact on the region's economy.

The Illinois oil basin is located mostly in Little Egypt. During the early 1940s and 1950s, Little Egypt had a modest oil boom in towns such as Carmi, McLeansboro, and Lawrenceville. Oil production reached more than 140 million barrels per year in the 1940s, but dropped to 10 million barrels per year in 1995. Oil wells are still found in the region, but are of relatively low yield and produce oil with a high sulfur content. There has been no significant drilling activity in the basin since the late 1970s.

Manufacturing in southern Illinois is typically clustered in the largest towns of each county, with the people of smaller towns and villages often commuting to them to work in the factories. Many of these towns have a number of light factories and other industrial facilities in their industrial parks which produce industrial electronics, minor electrical items, automobile parts, packaging materials, and carry out large scale printing as well as transportation and distribution of warehoused materials and goods. A large percentage of local jobs are in these light industries.

[edit] Culture

Culturally, southern Illinois is tied closely with Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri. The immigration route from the east coast westward ran along the Ohio River. In addition, the Cumberland River flowed northwest through Kentucky and Tennessee before joining the Ohio near Paducah, Kentucky, affording a migration route from the interior of those States. Thus, settlers who came to southern Illinois had previously settled Kentucky, Tennessee and continued to migrate into Missouri and Arkansas. A road between Golconda and Jonesboro carried settlers and commerce across southern Illinois as well as the Cherokee on the Trail of Tears.[3]

Little Egypt exists at the confluence of the North Midland and South Midland dialects of American English. South Midland becomes more prominent as one approaches the Ohio River. The dialect change is not pure continuum, but rather occurs in pockets, with certain towns and regions notably favoring one dialect over the other. This difference can even be found between lifelong residents of the same town. No stigma is associated with either dialect within southern Illinois.

Even though Illinois was a free state prior to the American Civil War, there were a small number of slaves in Little Egypt. Illinois law generally forbade bringing slaves into Illinois, but a special exemption was given to the salt works near Equality and as long-term indentured servants or as descendants of slaves in the area before statehood. Many Democrats in southern Illinois favored the South. John A. Logan, a southern Illinois congressman who would later become a major general in the Union Army, even compared the southern secessionists to the Founding Fathers. Despite having a Democratic majority and southern sympathizers, Egypt had the highest Union recruitment rates in the state and Union Clubs were formed to physically intimidate dissenters.

On April 15, 1861 the citizens of Marion passed a resolution calling for the division of Illinois and the secession of southern Illinois. The resolution stated:

Resolved: 1. That we, the citizens of Williamson County, firmly believing, from the distracted condition of our county---the same being brought about by the elevation to power of a strictly sectional party---the coercive policy of which toward the seceded States will drive all the border slave States from the Federal Union, and cause them to join the Southern Confederacy.
2. That, in such event, the interest of the citizens of Southern Illinois imperatively demands at their hands a division of the State. We hereby pledge ourselves to use all means in our power to effect the same, and attach ourselves to the Southern Confederacy.
3. That, in our opinion, it is the duty of the present administration to withdraw all the troops of the Federal government that may be stationed in Southern forts, and acknowledge the independence of the Southern Confederacy, believing that such a course would he calculated to restore peace and harmony to our distracted country.
4. That in view of the fact that it is probable that the present Governor of the State of Illinois will call upon the citizens of the same to take up arms for the purpose of subjecting the people of the South, we hereby enter our protest against such a course, and, as loyal citizens, will refuse, frown down, and forever oppose the same.

The resolution was repealed shortly thereafter, but General Benjamin Prentiss on his way to a garrison in Cairo left a company of men near Marion.

In 1862, U. S. Representative William J. Allen of Marion and Circuit Judge Andrew D. Duff of Benton, among others, were arrested on suspicion of being members of the Knights of the Golden Circle.

In 1864, a group of people from southern Illinois gave a horse named "Egypt" to Union General U.S. Grant.[4]