Area Lakes Were the Key to the Growth of Antioch, Illinois-- Part 1

From the 2016 Stateline by Sandra Landen-Machaj.

In the early 1800s, the Antioch area was the home of the Pottawatomi Indian tribe, a semi-nomadic group that moved throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin hunting and fishing.

The area had a rolling landscape and many glacial lakes and was rich in fish and wild fowl.  Life was good for them until the arrival of the white man.

The first recorded settlement in what was to become Antioch was a log cabin built along Sequoit Creek, a tributary of the Fox River.  It was on this spot that brothers Darius and Thomas Gage built their cabin shortly after the winter of 1837.

One of the first businesses was a sawmill.  One was built by Hiram Buttrick in 1839 to provide for the lumber needs of a growing community.

--DaCoot