Peters Station

Peters Station. Nickel Plate Trail. Peters Station is located at the intersection of Rt. 157 and Rt. 162. Originally known as Goshen Settlement, in 1840 it was changed to 'Peters," deriving its name from the William Peters family. The tracks of the three major intercity "steam" railroads for most of the century - the Nickel Plate, the Litchfield and Madison and the Illinois Central came together. It became an important shipping center for a large area in the American Bottoms. John F. Dickman was appointed the agent-telegraph operator at Peters in 1904., Adapted from Leonard F. Dickman, A History of Peters Station, Illinois, A large sycamore tree located about two hundred feet west of the bridge over Judy Creek south of Rt. 162 was affectionately called the "Green Tree Hotel" by the transients that came to Peters every summer to work for the farmers and businessmen. The transients would spend their free time under this tree cooking on an open fire. They made mulligan soup rom ingredients gathered from the farmers. People knew the transients by their nicknames: Hard Face Jim, Big Al, Ol' August, Whitey, Ginseng Jim and Tomato Louis. These men came and went for several years, arriving in the spring and leaving in the fall. They helped the farmers with the wheat harvest and planted potatoes. A bunkhouse was located nearby. At times there were as many as fifty wagons lined up on the roadways in each direction from Peters waiting to be unloaded. , A saloon was built by Mike Nekola in 1893 and sat across the road from Schumacher's store. Over the years, many different men operated the saloon. Simon Henry managed it for a few years, but when Joseph Franek took over, he declared Sunday "free fish day." Anyone was welcome to have fresh river catfish on rye bread. . This historical marker was erected in 2021 by MCT Trails/Madison County Trails and Glen Carbon Historical and Museum Commission. It is in Glen Carbon in Madison County Illinois