County of marker: Gallatin County
Location of marker: Calhoun Circle, under the water tower, Equality
Marker text:
GALLATIN COUNTY COURTHOUSE
On Jan. 26, 1826, Equality was officially established by the General Assembly as the county seat of Gallatin County. The courthouse was built in 1827 for the amount of $1,300.00 dollars. Court was held ther until 1851, when all legal documents were removed to Shawneetown, The building was later used as a school, church & local society meetings. It was destroyed by fire Nov. 28, 1894.
"French settlers extracted salt near Equality as early as 1735, while Native Americans made salt here long before then. In 1803, the American Indians ceded their "Great Salt Springs" to the US government by treaty. The government then leased the springs, requiring the holder to produce a certain quantity of salt each year or pay a penalty. The salt works is referred to as the "United States Saline" in old documents.
"Isaac White was in charge of the salt works in 1811. White volunteered for the Indiana militia that year, and was killed at the Battle of Tippecanoe.
"Special territorial laws permitted exceptions to anti-slavery treaties at these salines, and slaves were used extensively in manufacturing salt. The census of 1820 for Gallatin County listed 239 slaves or servants.
"During the 1820s, Gallatin County included what is now Saline County as its western half. In 1826, the County seat was moved from Old Shawneetown, on the eastern edge of the county, to the new village of Equality, near the center of what was then Gallatin County. Equality remained the county seat until the formation of Saline County in 1847.
"In 1838, a local salt maker, John Hart Crenshaw began building his manor house at Hickory Hill.
"The Great Salt Springs are located southeast of Equality, on federal land along the south bank of the Saline River, seven-tenths of a mile west of Illinois Route 1 on Salt Well Road. Half Moon Lick, where the saltworks first developed as a large industry, is on private property southwest of Equality." ~ Wikipedia