Rossville, IL

Rossville is a Vermilion County village on Illinois Route 1, about twenty miles north of Danville and roughly one hundred miles south of Chicago. The place began as Liggett's Grove after John Liggett built a lodging house on the Hubbard Trail in 1829. The trail became an early state highway and later part of the Dixie Highway, giving Rossville a transportation history that predates the village's incorporation in 1859. The old route still brings the village into the regional road map.

ATTROmnedon / Public domain

Rossville's Historical Society Museum and Railroad Depot Museum keep two sides of that history open to visitors. The former railroad depot now holds exhibits on local railroads, telegraph equipment, and the trains that once moved through town, while Christman Park fills with lights during Christmas in the Village. The Rossville Community Organization runs that holiday event and other gatherings, and the village's grade school and Rossville Area Fire Protection District serve the current community. Rossville is a small road-and-rail village with a cabin story, a preserved depot, a lit-up park, and a local organization that keeps the calendar moving.