Rush Township's History
Browse the articles below for a look into Rush Township's storied past, including information on the famous Milltown settlement.
Archival Documents
(Adapted from WikiPedia.org)
Millville is a defunct settlement in Jo Daviess County, Illinois, United States, located within the boundaries of Apple River Canyon State Park. Founded in 1835 and platted in 1846, the community was washed away completely by a flood in 1892. No visible remnants of its structures remain today. The site of Millville was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places as the Millville Town Site in 2003.
Location
Millville was located in what is today the Apple River Canyon State Park, its physical address is within the village of Apple River. The canyon is a deep gorge carved by the Apple River when its course was diverted during the Illinoian Stage 132,000–300,000 years ago. The old river channel eventually filled and became the South Fork Apple River. Millville was located at the confluence of these two rivers; the site is marked by a large rock formation and two plaques.
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APPLE RIVER CANYON
By a Native
H.J. Wenziker
In the northern part of Illinois
Not many miles from Grant’s old home,
There’s a deep and winding canyon
Where the Native Americans used to roam.
‘Tis a place of many beauties,
With its stately walls so sheer,
And in the early nineties
It was stamping ground for deer.
There is stately pine and cedar;
In its bluffs are numerous caves,
It is up this very canyon
That Black Hawk led his braves.
Now a place for many tourists,
Where o’er its winding walls do climb,
And gaze up with astonishment,
When old Castle Rock they find.
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