Nokomis, IL

Nokomis is a Montgomery County city on Illinois Route 16, roughly between Hillsboro and Pana, at the headwaters of the East Fork of Shoal Creek. The road gives the town an east-west line, while the creek carries water south toward the Kaskaskia River. Nokomis was laid out in 1855 along the Indianapolis and St. Louis Railroad, incorporated as a village in 1867, and grew into a grain and merchandise center for the surrounding farms.

The parks give the modern map some texture. Nokomis Community Memorial Park, Fred B. Johnson Nokomis City Park, and Shane Cole Memorial Park provide fields, playgrounds, walking space, and room for local gatherings; Ramsey Lake State Recreation Area is about 19 miles southeast. The city also keeps its civic base in the usual small-town places: city hall, library, churches, and Route 16 businesses. The local scoop is a railroad-and-grain town whose original market role is still visible in the road, the creek, the parks, and nearby farm fields.