Clayville Fall Festival Brings History to Life

Visitors can experience local history alongside live music, vendors and family activities when the annual Clayville Fall Festival is held Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20, at the Clayville Historic Site near Pleasant Plains.

The festival will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at 12828 Route 125. Admission is free, although donations are welcome to support the historic site.

The two-day event will include Civil War and other living-history reenactors, craft and food vendors, concessions, bar service, live music and children’s activities. Capital City Contra will also lead a group folk dance accompanied by live old-time music. The dance is open to all ages, and no previous experience is required.

The festival provides visitors with an opportunity to explore one of Sangamon County’s oldest historic landmarks. The Broadwell family constructed the inn in 1824 as a stagecoach stop along the road between Springfield and Beardstown. It remains the oldest brick building in Sangamon County.

The settlement developed during the mid-1820s around the Broadwell family’s properties. In addition to the inn and its stables, the community included a tannery, blacksmith shop, horse mill, schoolhouse and store. The inn became a stopping place for travelers and offered food, lodging and protection along the frontier road.

The community was named Clayville in 1842 in honor of Henry Clay, the Kentucky statesman and Whig presidential candidate. The inn served as a stagecoach stop until 1847 and was connected to local Whig Party activities during the period.

Clayville was rescued and restored by Dr. Emmett Pearson and his wife, Mary, beginning in 1961. The property later passed through several owners and sat unused for 17 years before the Pleasant Plains Historical Society acquired it. Volunteers then worked to clear and preserve the property.

Today, the Broadwell Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other historic buildings from central Illinois were moved to the grounds during the 1960s to help recreate an early Illinois pioneer village.

Additional information about the festival is available by calling Clayville Historic Site at 217-481-4430.