Bernadotte, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bernadotte is an unincorporated village located in Fulton County, Illinois. The village was likely named for Charles XIV John of Sweden who served as a Marshall for Napolean and later King of Sweden and Norway in 1818 (Illinois became 21st state on December 3, 1818). See House of Bernadotte.
[edit] Geography
The unincorporated village of Bernadotte lies four miles north of Ipava on the Spoon River. Bernadotte is located approximately at 40°37' North, 90°28' West (northeast corner of old Camp Ellis [U.S. Army]).
Bernadotte is the location of the only dam on the Spoon River. The current dam was erected by U.S. Army Engineers to impound water for Camp Ellis and replaced an earlier mill and mill dam. The dam is still a favored fishing site for area fishermen.
[edit] History
Bernadotte has the distinction of having once been considered as the site for the new capitol of Illinois, prior to the capitol being located at Vandalia. In 1820, Vandalia was selected as the new state capitol by one vote over Bernadotte.
Until the early 1940s, Bernadotte had a population of about four hundred people when it was razed, with the exception of one building, to become part of the Camp Ellis prisoner of war and training camp during World War II. The population of Bernadotte at the present is well under one hundred persons and was not recorded on the 2000 U.S. Census.
The iron bridge at Bernadotte is one of the few iron bridges still standing in Illinois. The bridge was built and placed into service in 1910 replacing a covered bridge that once crossed the Spoon River at Bernadotte. The iron bridge at Bernadotte has been closed to vehicular traffic for a number of years, but still remains a major attraction for residents and visitors to Spoon River country.
