Historic Rossville, Illinois

Rossville was incorporated as a village in August 1859. Rossville and Ross Township were named after Jacob Ross, a settler in the area. Rossville was originally named Liggett’s Grove in honor of John Liggett who built a lodging house in 1829. Liggett’s cabin was located on the Hubbard Trail, an early trading route established by Gordon Hubbard from Chicago to Danville. In 1833, this became the first state highway (now Illinois Route 1) and in 1914 was made part of the Dixie Highway.

In 1893 Rossville lost about a fourth of their downtown commercial section to a fire. In 2004 a large fire burnt down another quarter of the downtown commercial section just opposite from where the 1893 fire was located.

At one time in the 1960s & 1970s Rossville was called the “Antique Capital of Illinois” due to the number of antique shops in town where as many as 7 Greyhound buses a day would bring in tourists and shoppers.

GPS Location: 40º22’45.5″N 87º40’12.1″W