St. Joe, Illinois

St. Joe, Illinois. Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail. , Early Community History , St. Joe is located in what was originally the New Design Precinct. The name New Design originated with James Lemen, Sr., who observed that he had a "new design” to make a settlement south of Bellefontaine (Waterloo). This settlement, whose inhabitants were largely emigrants from Kentucky and Virginia, was one of the largest colonies in Illinois. Later settlers to the St. Joe area had been part of the German immigration during the mid-1800's. St. Joe at one time boasted several churches, multiple homes, the Harrisonville Telephone Exchange building and the St. Joe Tavern. An excerpt from a local newspaper in 1916 states, "the Kaskaskia-Cahokia Trail passes almost through the center of this district, and from all indications the "good roads movement” will assist materially in making the trail a good highway in the future. , Holy Cross Lutheran - St. Joe , The site of the Lutheran Church in St. Joe was across the road from the current Zion UCC. It was originally served by Rev. G. Birkner of Wartburg, who also served the Lutheran congregations of Deer Hill and Maeystown. Charter members of this church included Samuel Koch, Frederick Koch, Peter Dann and Carl Hartmann., In 1880, the St. Joe Lutheran Church disbanded, and the church building was moved to Renault. St. Joe's Lutheran congregation later became the nucleus of the present congregation of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Renault. After the Renault congregation built a new church, the original St. Joe Church building was used for a school for many years. A cemetery can still be seen in St. Joe behind the former Lutheran Church location., Zion Evangelical / United Church of Christ , Zion Evangelical Church was organized in 1860. One of the Charter Members of the St. Joe Lutheran Church, Carl Hartmann had split from that congregation, and the first Evangelical services were held in the Hartmann home. Hartmann later provided the land to build the first Evangelical Church in November, 1861. The church which serves the current congregation of Zion United Church of Christ was built in 1884. It is one of the local churches with the historic rooster on the steeple, a tradition brought to America by the German settlers. , While many UCC congregations folded, Zion St. Joe persevered. New members came to the St. Joe church following the closure of St. Peter's UCC in Burksville in 1989, Following the 1993 Flood, and closure of St. John UCC in Fults, some members of that congregation also made Zion St. Joe their new home of worship. Members of the Zion congregation continue to work hard to maintain their facilities.