SHAWNEETOWN

city, seat (1812) of Gallatin County, southern Illinois, U.S., 10 mi (16 km) below the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio rivers. The area was settled at the beginning of the 1800s. A land office was opened in 1812, and Shawneetown became the gateway to Illinois for settlers from the east, as well as a trading and financial centre. The state's first bank opened in Shawneetown in 1812, and the state's second newspaper, the Illinois Immigrant, began publication there in 1818. At the time of Illinois statehood (1818), Shawneetown and Kaskaskia (q.v.) were considered to be the two most important settlements in the state. Floods repeatedly devastated the area, and after the flood of 1937 the state began to move the buildings of Shawneetown four miles to the west. Some inhabitants refused to move, however, and in 1956 the remaining section of the original settlement was incorporated as Old Shawneetown. The area is now a state historic site. Shawnee National Forest is to the south and west. Pop. (1990) 1,575.