Evening star., 1937-10-24
Some Forgotten Towns
in America
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

iCsCA SOiliC VI Jul OWiA DldCCc VI pliQC oii0
beauty rarely occurs TO us, but dotted
here and there IN all parts of the United
States are hundred or more places that
once fiourished in the grandeur of their
day-and now are the forgotten towns of
the Nation. Their written history is so
brief and incomplete that only crumbling
grave markers serve as signs that heroic
men and women pioneered in these
places.
Silent sentinels of French towns In the
Mississippi Valley, colonies in the East.
and settlements of adventures to the
West, all mark the trail of human strug-
gle, and point to places whose population
went with the tide of time. For the most
part these forgotten places of once hu-
man activity can best be classed as trag-
edies, for even the instances where mis-
fortune did not pave the way to dehabi-
tation, the passing of place where men
have lived and struggled against the
odds of the unexplored echoes human
silence that has nothing of the comedy.
While several communities and towns
in American predate James Town (now
Jamestown that location is considered
the place of the first permanent settle
ment on the American continent. Through
discord and dissension storms and fires,
winds and wars, the town lasted nearly
200 years, only two dwellings being there
in 1907. But one of these was there in
1861 and was burned during the Civil
War. The ruins of a single house, an
old church, a Confederate fort and
tombs of a few of the ancient worthless
mark the spot of the once-thriving Colo
NAL village.
Sunbury, Ga. started in 1853 under
the direction of Mark Carr, became
great trading center 1t was the home
of some of Georgia's great men. includ-
ing Lyman Hall, once Governor of the
State and signer of the Declaration OF
Independence, also of Button Gwinnett,
another signer; of John Elliott and Al
fred Cuthbert, United States Senators
from Georgia; of John E. Ward, Speaker
of the House of Representatives, presi-
dent of the Georgia Senate and one-time
United States Minister to China. Today
that e-thriving city is among ~the
ashes of an empire" the old Midway
Church. its burying ground and almost
obliterated streets being the only signs
of the once thriving city. Ebeneser, Ga,
once the home of 10000 German Prot
estants and with beginning dating back
of a town that is no more, except the
remains of an old church tower.
X X
The missionaries came to help lead the
Indians out of savagery. Among these
peaceful men and women of the mission
of good will were Moravians, settling in
PENNSYLVANIA and Ohio and later in
North Carolina. Among the towns
founded by them was Gnadenhutton,
Ohio. This village thrived for while,
and once gave promise of a great city.
The town is now practically unknown
beyond its Immediately locality.
The French Revolution caused thou
sands to flee their native land. These
refugees became problem in "the New
World" and as a part of solution,
million acres of land were acquired in
Susouehanna, Bradford and Sullivan
Counties, Pa, April, 1874. Thousands
came to the new settlement and model
city was laid out and called Asylum. New
inhabitants being added daily. a town
of many thousand souls soon f1ourished.
France later ordered all immigrants to
return at once. An exit began, and IN 10
years the town was no more.
st. Stephens, not Montgomery, was
Alabamas first capital. st. Stephens is
today Mobile, or Mobile is st. Stephens, to
avoid contrary opinion of historians, for
while Mobile is not located on the site OF
the once State capital, the inhabitants
of forgotten St. Stephens were the first
settlers of Mobile.
Nauvoo, H., founded by Joseph Smith,
also founder of the Mormon Church,
served for a bare six years and has long
since passed into history. New Salem,
Ill. founded in 1929 by James Rutledge
and John Cameron, is today remembered
mainly by the fact that Abraham Lin
coin was once resident and postmaster
of the village.
Peasants came from Germany In 1915
and founded New Harmony, Ind.-then
called Harmonic" The village became
the scientific center Of the new country.
There Robert Owen founded the first
infant school in America. In this VII
lage women had their first vote in public
affairs The Philadelphia Academy OF
Natural Science also was established.
But the once promising city on the banks
of the Wabash, while still surviving, Is
not the city intended by its builders.
In l776. $500 Minorcans and Greeks
landed near the now Daytona Beach,
Fla.-the very spot where great automo-
bile races are run every Winter. The
settlement founded was called New
Smyrna. These immigrants did not md
life easy. due to conditions imposed and
the hardships obviously to be encoun-
tered in a wilderness OF sands and
swamps. The thriving village many
years afterward was claimed by the jun
gle having been gradually deserted by
| all those who came to make it haven
| in the new land of opportunity.
Corydon was once the territorial capi-
| tai of Indiana. A city was laid out,
| much building construction done, and
| the first session of the General Assembly
| met there in December, 1913. In addi-
| ton to the Capitol Building, the Gov
| ernor's house and other public places
were constructed. Here the Constitu-
| tional Convention, authorized In April,
1916. assembled on June 10. 1915.
treaty with the Indians in 1913 made it
essential to locate the capital elsewhere.
| Corvdon has remained a quiet village
| with its beautiful surroundings-and
| that which was destined to be Indianap-
! oils remained Corydon.
Only in the most ancient records of
the locality may be found the name of
Upton. NJ j. This forgotten town had
| its beginning when Philadelphia was
Young. Many houses were constructed
streets laid out, churches built, ceH1s-
teries planned and mills provided for