New Philadelphia, Illinois was located in western Illinois’ Pike County, not far from the Mississippi River and Missouri border. The town was founded by “Free” Frank McWorter, who moved to Illinois from Kentucky with his wife Lucy and their four children in 1830. McWorter founded the town of New Philadelphia in 1836 with a plan to make as much money as possible to buy his remaining family out of slavery and move them north to the new settlement.

The town would suffer economically in the 1860s when a new railroad line bypassed the town, leading to a slow dispersal of residents from the area. By the 1880s, most residents had left the area in search of opportunity elsewhere.

Today, the area once incorporated as New Philadelphia is an open prairie field, with all remnants of the town underground. The significance of an integrated town existing before the Civil War, however, draws historians and others to the area.

In 2005, the town site was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

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