Old Town of Foreman
This was a thriving business village of Johnson County for several years and was situated a little south and east of the present Foreman. There was a large lumber mill located there in 1877 belonging to and operated by F. J. Chapman of Carbondale, Ill., and Col. Samuel Hess of Vienna. It also contained a Post Office, a number of stores, a hotel, and all the things necessary to a town. It began to decline in 1879 as the timber was used up. The mills were moved and it was dormant as a town for many years. The buildings being wooden finally fell victims to the ravages of time and weather. When the Burlington railroad was finished in 1910 and crossed the Big Four so near the site of the old Foreman the same name was given the crossing. The railroad station, the business house and dwelling of H. L. Bridges and one or two other dwellings are the only buildings in the present Foreman. Mr. Bridges has kept a hotel, a general store and the Post Office since the foundation of the town.
Extracted 06 Feb 2017 by Norma Hass from 1925 A History of Johnson County, Illinois, by Mrs. P. T. Chapman, page 483.
