Keithsburg Historic District

Keithsburg's historic district covers roughly four blocks of the town's central business district along the Mississippi River in Mercer County, Illinois. Its 17 buildings are mostly one- or two-story brick or frame commercial structures with load-bearing masonry walls, cast iron storefronts and pressed metal cornices and window hoods. Fifteen of them date from the period of significance, 1847 to 1915. Keithsburg was platted in 1837 and became the county seat in 1847. Although the seat moved to Aledo in 1857, steamboats and two railroad lines kept the town prosperous as a grain and livestock market serving farmers, including customers from Iowa who arrived by ferry. By 1900 it had electric lights, a waterworks and a telephone company. Later, automobiles and larger neighboring towns reduced the district's role, and many upper floors now sit vacant or used for storage. The remaining buildings still convey the character of a prosperous small-town business district, which the nomination ranks above those of New Boston and Oquawka.