Eden
The Rev. Samuel Wylie purchased the land and located on the site of Eden in 1822-3.  Sometime
afterwards, Adam WYLIE and James FORD located here also.  At that time there were few settlers in the adjacent country, and the idea of making a town probably had not entered into the minds of these men.

Rev. WYLIE had collected together a congregation of his church, and held public services in a house near the cemetery. As more immigrants came into the county, they were induced to settle around this place in order to enjoy the privileges of the church.  His congregation therefore, increased rapidly. Around 1833 Rev. WYLIE and the congregation built the new brick church, and this was the beginning of the little town.

About this same time, the congregation suffered a division, and the seceding portion erected another large church three years later.  Two large churches and a few dwellings now stood upon the beautiful little mound in the prairie, and suggested to the proprietor, who appreciated the beautiful, the idea of building a town, which should be called EDEN.  It was then the closest type of Eden of any spot in Illinois.

In 1837, a portion of the land was surveyed into town lots. Not long afterwards the community contained a store, oil mill, carding machine, foundry and machine shop, along with the other town fixtures.  The first wagon shop in Eden was established in 1839 by W. R. BROWN.  For many years, the shops of Eden supplied a large portion of the southern part of Illinois with wagons, carriages and plows.

The founder of this little town, Rev. Samuel WYLIE, first came to Kaskaskia in 1817 and was the first man in Illinois to give form and stability to the Reformed Presbyterian Church.  For more than 40 years he proclaimed the words of truth and life to the people of his church.

Eden in 1859, contained a population of about 300, had one dry good store, four wagon shops, one carriage and plow manufactory, one school house, one literary society, a large library, a saddlery shop and some other town appendages.

Unfortunately, after the Civil War, people began moving to the town of Sparta and other areas, and the little town of Eden has become a ghost-town.  There are about 10-15 homes there now, one of them being a home that played a major part in the underground railroad.

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