Wayne County, Illinois History / Archives

County Seat

Fairfield was laid out as a town in1819, continues to be the largest town in Wayne County.     Read more here. 

Villages 

 Cisne, Golden Gate, Jeffersonville (Geff), Johnsonville, Keenes, Mt. Erie, Sims, Wayne City    Read more here

Unincorporated areas

Barnhill, Ellery, Mayberry, Rinard, Wynoose, Zenith

Townships

Arrington, Barnill, Bedford, Berry, Big Mound, Elm River, Four Mile, Garden City, Grover, Hickory Hill, Indian Prairie, Jasper, Keith, Larmard, Leech, Massilon, Mount Erie, Orchard, Orel, Ziff

Wayne County Courthouse Page

People shape history.  From the earliest pioneers to current day movers and shakers, read about the PEOPLE of Wayne County. 

Timeline    1800s      1900s      2000s   

 Fairfield was laid out as a town in 1819, on land donated by the Barnhill family. The actual plat was not recorded until 6 years later.  The original town essentially covered the blocks around the courthouse square with business activity extending to First Street.  According to some records, Fairfield’s first businessman was Samuel Leech; other information suggests a Carter began the first store.  Either way, the village remained quite small for its first thirty years.  

 While Fairfield is the county seat, several villages were also economic centers during the earliest era. These brief summaries are primarily based on the 1884 History of Wayne and Clay Counties, an 1881 Atlas, and archival notes.   Read more here.

 You are invited to participate in this project devoted to gathering all the surviving information on Wayne County’s  more than 150 rural schools.   A Rural Schools Survey is available for anyone who attended a country school (including Cisne, Wayne City, Mt. Erie, and Geff High Schools) or wishes to interview a former student or teacher.  Along with this, the Society is gleaning its archives for school records, photographs, written recollections, and artifacts.  The collection will be organized into a permanently archived file.   In addition, as much of the written and photographic material as feasible will be gathered into notebooks.  Sample entries will be available at the Fairfield Public Library reference section.  Complete original files are available in the Early History Museum & Archives.  Please use our contact form to send us information.

Archives are housed at the Fairfield Public Library 

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