To a casual observer, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town. But a closer look revealed a unique and racially diverse community. New Philadelphia was the first US town platted and registered by an African American. A formerly enslaved man, Free Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia in 1836 and purchased freedom for himself and 15 family members.
Map of the U.S. National Heritage Areas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
https://www.nps.gov/neph/index.htm
To a casual observer, New Philadelphia looked like a typical Illinois pioneer town. But a closer look revealed a unique and racially diverse community. New Philadelphia was the first US town platted and registered by an African American. A formerly enslaved man, Free Frank McWorter, founded New Philadelphia in 1836 and purchased freedom for himself and 15 family members.
New Philadelphia National Historic Site is in rural western Illinois between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers near Interstate 72. The site can be reached by turning onto 306th Lane from County Highway 2. An informational kiosk is immediately on the left after turning onto 306th Lane. The small city of Barry lies two miles west and has the nearest services. Hannibal, Missouri, is 27 miles west. Springfield, Illinois, is 76 miles east. St. Louis lies about 115 miles south.
Perseverance and Freedom on the Illinois Frontier
A grassy field surrounded by forest under a sunny sky with large white clouds.
View of New Philadelphia National Historic Site on a sunny day.
Kiosk
Four interpretive panels mounted under a covered, open-sided kiosk overlooking a prairie landscape.
A kiosk houses several informational panels at New Philadelphia National Historic Site.
Walking Tour
A mowed path through prairie. There are numbered signs along the trail.
Visitors can take a self-guided ¼-mile-long walking tour of the site using an augmented virtual reality app managed by the New Philadelphia Association. The app is available to download for electronic handheld devices, cost-free, at the kiosk.
Schoolchildren
Twenty children of mixed ages and genders posing for the camera in front of a schoolhouse.
Schoolchildren at the New Philadelphia School, October 1925.
Lucy McWorter
Historic black and white photo of an African American woman seated looking past the camera.
Lucy McWorter, Free Frank McWorter’s wife, 1800s.
Things to Do in Illinois
Find things to do, trip ideas, and more in Illinois.
A light orange two story home containing many windows with green shutters.
Series: Things to Do in the Midwest
There is something for everyone in the Midwest. See what makes the Great Plains great. Dip your toes in the continent's inland seas. Learn about Native American heritage and history. Paddle miles of scenic rivers and waterways. Explore the homes of former presidents. From the Civil War to Civil Rights, discover the stories that shape our journey as a nation.
Steep bluff with pink sky above and yellow leaves below.
Archeology of New Philadelphia
Twenty-seven years before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, the formerly enslaved pioneer “Free” Frank McWorter established the first town founded by an African American man in the United States. Major excavation of New Philadelphia began in 2002, and has allowed archeologists the unique opportunity of examining a site settled by free African Americans.
Plat of New Philadelphia
New Philadelphia: A Multiracial Town on the Illinois Frontier (Teaching with Historic Places)
Learn about "Free Frank" McWorter and how archeology can help tell the story of the interracial town he founded in the years before the Civil War.
