Carrier Mills, Illinois - History

History

Carrier Mills is located seven miles (11 km) southwest of Harrisburg, Illinois, where most of the town's citizens do their business and shopping. It was platted in November 1872 for William Housely as Morrillsville, named after H. L. Morrill the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad superintendent who sealed a real-estate deal with Mill owner G. W. Carrier. It was commonly known and eventually renamed Carrier's Mills after inventor G. Washington Carrier ("Uncle Wash") who helped found the town when he built an elaborate steam powered saw and a grist mill just to the south of town on the Saline River watershed, near the old Tuller Mansion farming and property site. Carrier's Mills was the farthest north Cypress Trees grew at the time, which made lumber milling in the town quite profitable. Carrier was the first of many to set up wood working factories within the city limits. The mills were first used for the making of lumber to construct bridges and ties for the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, then later the business and homes in the town soon followed.

Carrier and Morrill closed a real-estate deal to build a train depot there. The town was platted adjacent and north of the newly completed Cairo and Vincennes Railroad. In 1873, the first postmaster was appointed to Carrier's Mills (the name the railroad had assigned to the new stop). The town's name changed again to Carrier Mills when several more wood working factories were built. The village was incorporated on September 18, 1894. After an influx of settlers from the south, due to the Civil War, the tiny village amidst timber and farms grew quickly. Today, in legal documents its name remains Morrillsville. Carrier Mills did not have a single brick building and the sidewalks were of boards. The business district was mainly from the First National Bank west to the Texaco Gas Station, and all of frame construction. A disastrous fire in February 1908 burned everything on the north side of the street. In the next month, March 1908, fire burned everything on the south side of the street, from Main to Mill, except the Old Woolcott Mill Exchange. The businessmen began immediately to rebuild, all of brick construction.

Tuller Mansion, or "Tuller Place" was a Victorian, 1910, two-story manor, constructed of red brick from the Terre Haute Block Company built on the outskirts of town. There was a grand entry staircase with marble floors, clawfoot tubs, built-in china cabinets, and fine mahogany wood throughout. A large elegant patio served to entertain guests in hosting social dances, and even a carport existed for the two vehicles that Mr. Tuller owned. The mansion was built on the Carrier-Vennum estate, nicknamed "Inland Farm", by Arthur V. Tuller, inlaws of George Washington Carrier, The town's founder. The house burned in the 1990s.

After the lumber boom died out, Coal mining had a great influence on Carrier Mills. Some dozen coal mines privately and publicly owned were located around the town. Carrier Mills, from 1913 to 1933, was the southern terminus of the Southern Illinois Railway & Power Company's Interurban Line. The trolley would take residents from downtown, and along Carline Street toward Harrsburg. During the town's heyday, some 3,000 people bustled around the busy streets. After the coal mines closed the population dwindled to nearly 1,500 according to the 2010 census. The entire county has suffered dearly from the closing of the coal mines, making Carrier Mills a near ghost town. In 2009 Carrier Mills ended a 70 year long prohibition. During the 2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak an EF-4 tornado touched down just north of Carrier Mills at 4:51 a.m. on 29 February 2012, destroyed a church and damaged homes along Town Park Road and then traveled ENE toward Harrisburg, where it damaged and destroyed entire neighborhoods of the city.