I will be attending a meeting of the New Philadelphia Association on Monday, September 21 at 4:00 P. M. I am proud to be a member of the Association, whose goal is the preservation of the New Philadelphia Settlement near Barry, Illinois, in Pike County.

The New Philadelphia Association was formed in 1996 in order to bring attention to and preserve the New Philadelphia Town Site. The Association has done extensive work over the past 13 years, including excavation work and achieving National Historic Preservation status.

New Philadelphia, founded in 1836, was the first town in the United States platted and registered by an African American before the Civil War. The founder, Frank McWorter, a former slave who had purchased his freedom and that of his family in Kentucky, was elected mayor of New Philadelphia and lived there for the remainder of his life.

New Philadelphia grew to be an integrated town in an era when such a municipality was unheard of. Before the Civil War, New Philadelphia had become one of the stations along the Underground Railroad for shepherding escaped slaves to Canada. With Emancipation, more settlers arrived in New Philadelphia. Its population peaked at close to 200 shortly after 1865.

The town site lies about 3 miles east of Barry, close to Interstate 72.