Editing Du Quoin, Illinois (section)

==History==
The area east of Du Quoin is known as [[Old Du Quoin, Illinois|Old Du Quoin]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://duquoin.org/history.htm |title=A brief history of Du Quoin |publisher=City of Du Quoin, IL |access-date=4 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905051706/http://duquoin.org/history.htm |archive-date=September 5, 2013 }}</ref> In the early 19th century, Du Quoin was near the [[Lusk's Ferry Road]], an important early road that connected [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]] with [[Lusk's Ferry, Illinois|Lusk's Ferry]] on the [[Ohio River]]. The road ran easterly out of [[Steeleville, Illinois|Steeleville]] to a point southwest of Du Quoin. There it turned to the southeast to cross the [[Big Muddy River]] and head for Lusk's Ferry.

Du Quoin had its start at its present location in 1853 when the railroad was extended to that point.<ref>{{cite book|last=Callary|first=Edward|title=Place Names of Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZvHgwa-XImcC&pg=PA101|date=29 September 2008|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0-252-09070-7|page=101}}</ref> The city was named after Chief Jean Baptiste Ducoigne of the [[Kaskaskia]], an [[Illiniwek]] people, who were defeated by the [[Shawnee]] near here in 1802.

The first mayor of Du Quoin was George Spencer Smith.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Perry County Historical Society |title=Perry County, Illinois |publisher=Turner Publishing Co. |isbn=0-938021-52-4 |pages=318}}</ref>