Beverly Illinois in Beverly Township in IL
Some quick facts about Beverly Illinois
Postal Zip Codes for Beverly Township IL are 62312, 62314, 62347.
Zip code for Beverly IL is 62312.
Zip code for Kingston and Chestline is 62347.
Beverly Illinois is an unincorporated village in Beverly Township in the southeast corner of Adams County, Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the entire Township of Beverly only had a population of 406. Beverly is a rural area to say the least. The unincorporated villages of Chestline and Kingston are also in Beverly Township. Beverly sits in the 18th Congressional District of Illinois which covers central and western Illinois.
Notably Senator Abraham Lincoln served much of the area that now lies within the 18th district for a single term from 1858 to 1861.
Some history about Beverly Illinois. You can read a detailed historical article written by Linda Mayfield for the Quincy Herald Whig by clicking here.
Excerpted from the Herald Whig article.
Beverly: A hidden treasure with a rich history
By LINDA MAYFIELD
Illinois was originally surveyed into townships six miles square, divided into 640-acre sections. Straight sides were sometimes altered by geographic features, but Beverly Township is square.
Izariah Mayfield emigrated from Lincoln County, NC, to settle on 160 acres and built the first cabin in the township in 1834. The next three settlers were the Sykes, Richardson, and Robertson families who bought adjacent acreage south of the Mayfield property.
James Richardson Sr., and James Sykes Sr., were friends in Brooklyn, N.Y., who dreamed of a better life in the “far west.” They went to Quincy, IL in June 1834 to assess the prospects, went out to see where Izariah Mayfield had settled. Richardson and Sykes returned to Quincy and bought some of the nearby land for $1.25 an acre. Richardson and Sykes then went back to New York to bring their families and friends west. Some of the Sykes descendants still own the land the Mayfields and Sykes’s settled to this day.J. B. and Thomas Robertson and George Wood came with the Sykes family to Beverly. They crossed New York on the Erie Canal, sailed Lake Erie to Cleveland, floated across Ohio by canal, then took steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Quincy.
With Izariah Mayfield’s help, James Richardson finished building two cabins on his land and the family occupied them in early December, staying with the Mayfield’s until they were finished. The Richardson family, along with Mrs. Wood, sailed from New York to New Orleans, took a steamboat up the Mississippi to Quincy. The Wood family decided to stay in Quincy, where George opened a cabinet shop. Robertson built his cabin and was able to bring his family to their new home in April 1835.
More settlers arrived in the township and built log cabins. As families and prosperity grew, some cabins were torn down and replaced with larger houses, but some were just incorporated into the next addition, sided with boards and finished inside. Except for the thickness of the walls, that part would look just like the rest of the house.
In 1836, the town of Beverly was platted west of the original settlers’ 160-acre farms, and named for one family’s hometown in Massachusetts. A lot would be given to anyone who would build a permanent house on it, and four frame houses and a school were soon built. A town cemetery was designated north of the square.
Izariah Mayfield had begun raising pigs his first year on his land, and soon other settlers did, too. With the construction of a cooper’s shop in town to make barrels, a prosperous meatpacking industry soon followed. Farmers fed hogs their corn, salted the pork, packed it in barrels, and shipped it on the stage road between Springfield and Quincy that passed through Beverly.
For many years, James Sykes Jr. wrote a weekly column about Beverly in the Barry Adage under the pen name “Uncle Pete.” After he scolded them in his April 30, 1888, column, residents made improvements in the Beverly town square. Neighbors stopped grazing their cattle there, planted elm trees, and began using it as a community park. By that time, the big Huffman house was east of Mound Prairie Cemetery, the large Richardson house to the north, the Dr. Sykes mansion at the west edge of town, the large house of orchard-grower Emmett Kelly nearby. Two doctor’s offices, three grocery stores, and a hat shop eventually served the thriving community. The post office was in Ray Rhoades’s store. Woodman Hall, a large two-story building, housed the local lodge. The first telephone switchboard was in Nelle Kelly’s house. Electricity came in 1939.
Time brought change, but highways and railroads bypassed Beverly. The one-room school with the big bell burned in the late 1930s and a modern building replaced it. The township’s country schools were phased out until all students attended school in Liberty, IL.
But Beverly’s treasures include the archives of the Barry Adage and the historical records its citizens have preserved in journals and memoirs that might not have caught others’ attention: residents feeling the New Madrid fault line earthquake Jan. 4, 1843; the tornado that occurred April 22, 1844 and the murder on the town square more than 80 years ago. Weddings, funerals, births, deaths, laughter and tears, commendations and scandals…the fabric of a community. Beverly’s population may not exceed 50 now, but its rich history lives on in Adams County.
Points of interest near Beverly Illinios
Airports
- Dale A Klassing Airport
- Barry Balloonport
- Gully Landing Strip
Churches
- Barry United Methodist Church, which is on 720 Perry Street, Barry.
- Barry Church of Christ, which is on 1166 Mason Street, Barry.
- St. Brigid Catholic Church, which is on 706 North Main Street, Liberty.
- Beverly United Methodist Church, which is on 2703 Jefferson Street, Liberty.
- Fish Hook Church, which is on 34510 Perry Fishhook Road, Baylis.
- Woodland Church, which is on Q4F8+M3, Baylis.
- RICHFIELD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, which is on 397 East 2050th Street, Plainville.
- Spring Valley Independant Church, which is on 953 East 2750th Street, Clayton.
- Zion Lutheran Church Parsonage, which is on W North, Liberty.
- Barry Baptist Church, which is on 900 Main Street, Barry.
Fire Stations
- Baylis Fire Department, which is on Railroad Street, Baylis.
- Liberty Fire Protection District, which is on 607 Talbot Street, Liberty.
- Barry Fire Department, which is on 867 Main Street, Barry.
Universities
- JWCC Agricultural Education Center, which is on 37803 Illinois 104, Baylis.
Secondary Schools
- Western High School, which is on 401 McDonough Street, Barry.
Parks
- Siloam Springs State Park, which is on 938 County Road 3003 East, Clayton.
- Pike-Adams Sportmen’s Park, which is on 31943 250th Street, Barry.
- Buck Chasers, which is on 2980 North 250th Avenue, Baylis.
- Oak Ridge Campground, which is on Clayton.
- Hickory Hill Campground, which is on Clayton.
- Pine Grove Campground, which is on Clayton.
- Geode valley Lodge, which is on R4GW+3M, Baylis.
- Liberty Park, which is on Liberty.
- Lafayette Park, which is on Barry.
- Barry Pool Park, which is on Barry.
City halls
- City of Barry, which is on 1005 Bainbridge Street, Barry.
- LIBERTY TOWNSHIP HALL, which is on 600 Dudley Street, Liberty.
- MCKEE TOWN HALL, which is on 2980 North 1200th Avenue, Clayton.
Govt offices
- Pike County Housing Authority, which is on 838 Mason Street, Barry.
- City of Barry, which is on 1005 Bainbridge Street, Barry.
- Fishhook Town Hall, which is on Baylis.
- Baylis Village Hall, which is on Baylis.
- LIBERTY TOWNSHIP HALL, which is on 600 Dudley Street, Liberty.
- MCKEE TOWN HALL, which is on 2980 North 1200th Avenue, Clayton.
Nearby Towns and Suburbs Beverly Illinois
- Kingston is 2 miles to the north-west.
- Chestline is 3 miles to the north-east.
- Fishhook is 5 miles to the east.
- Hadley is 6 miles to the south.
- Baylis is 6 miles to the south-east.
- Richfield is 6 miles to the west.
- New Philadelphia is 7 miles to the south.
- Barry is 7 miles to the south.
- Siloam is 7 miles to the north-east.
- Benville is 8 miles to the north-east.
- Liberty is 8 miles to the north-west.
- New Salem is 9 miles to the south-east.
- Kellerville is 10 miles to the north.
- Plainville is 10 miles to the west.
- Kinderhook is 10 miles to the south-west.
- Morrelville is 10 miles to the east.
- White Oak Springs (historical) is 11 miles to the north-east.
- El Dara is 11 miles to the south.
