202 UNION COUNTY PAST AND PRESENT
- Then in the late 1920’s trucks made their first appearance as
I a competitive threat to the railroad. With road improvement
A they were able to go direct to the farms for produce and thence
to market. Freight on the railroad decreased alarmingly and
finally, on December 16, 1939, the last freight train made its
I forlorn run. The rails were removed in the summer of 1940.
Today Pride consists of two business houses, one owned by
G. B. Carter, the other by T. J. Herron; a blacksmith shop run
by A. L. Christison, and the Zion Baptist Church.
The grade school is still here and is attended by pupils from
the former neighboring schools, among which were Hammond’s
and Wright’s. But the high school of Pride, which once accom-
modated the students of Sullivan, is no more. Pride students now
go to Sturgis or Morganfield.
Raleigh
The fine farming land behind it, and its location on the Ohio,
five miles above Shawneetown, Illinois, combined to make Raleigh
an important shipping point. From about 1840 to 1860 it shipped
more grain than any other river center in Union County.
Before there were voting places in Caseyville or Uniontown,
election returns were sent out from Raleigh. The articles of
incorporation, 1851, speak of the construction of streets and
alleys and public buildings, the digging of wells, the taxing of
all shows and exhibitions and the suppression of horse-racing
and gunplay—suggesting, among other things a vigor in frequent
need of restraint.
It seems a curious lack of foresight that placed Raleigh not
back toward the hills but on the river. The town was actually
on the site of an ancient Indian burying ground, as frequent
cave-ins of the river bank disclosed, and excavation for building
purposes unearthed many skeletons. The caving in of the river
bank and the seasonal flood waters eventually destroyed
Raleigh’s shipping and drove its inhabitants away. Today there »
is but one house, occupied by Will Cissell, who tends the govern-
ment light.
In its heyday Raleigh had three drygoods stores, one of them
brick, three large warehouses, a hotel, and a wagon and black-
smith shop. Haman Ashby was both a merchant and postmaster
in 1840. A little later Michel and Nathan A. Jones opened a store,
as did the McCune brothers, the Rev. Mr. English and a Mr. Ford,