Editing Potomac, Illinois (section)

==History==
The town was originally named Marysville after the wives of the two founders, John Smith and Isaac Meneley, who started businesses here ''circa'' 1840. On May 13, 1871, a post office was established at the town and was named Potomac, most likely after the [[Potomac River]]. The town's name was later changed to conform to this.<ref>{{cite book
  | last = Jones
  | first = Lottie
  | title = History of Vermilion County, Illinois, volume 1
  | publisher = Pioneer Publishing Company
  | year = 1911
  | location = Chicago
  | url = https://archive.org/stream/historyofvermiliv1jone#page/408/mode/2up
  | page = 409
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
  | last = Callary
  | first = Edmund
  | title = Place Names of Illinois
  | page = 285
  | publisher = University of Illinois Press
  | location = Urbana
  | year = 2009
  | isbn = 978-0-252-03356-8}}</ref>

The town was hit by a tornado in April 1953, injuring a dozen people.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19530410&id=j69MAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UjEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1143,6729084|title=Midwest Tornadoes Leave Three Dead|newspaper=[[Rome News-Tribune]]|location=Rome, Georgia|date=April 10, 1953}}</ref>

Potomac prospered into the late 20th century, with a population peaking at 900 during the 1970 census, due in part to its location along [[US Route 136]], one of the primary east–west highways crossing the state of Illinois. The opening of [[Interstate 74]] reduced the amount of travel through Potomac, leading to a rapid decline in the number of service stations, restaurants and small businesses in the downtown area in the early 1970s. In the early 1990s a fire destroyed several downtown buildings on the north side of Route 136, dramatically altering the appearance of the community.

Potomac is known for its [[Artesian aquifer|Artesian wells]],<ref name="WCIA-2018-06-21">{{cite web |title=Artesian wells turn on Our Town pride!
|url=https://www.wcia.com/news/local-news/artesian-wells-turn-on-our-town-pride/ |access-date=September 28, 2022
|first=Maggie |last=Hockenberry |publisher=[[WCIA]] |website=wcia.com |date=June 21, 2018}}
</ref> and its local High School teams were known as the "Potomac Artesians" until area secondary school consolidation in the mid 90's. One of these wells spouted an eight-inch stream of water 32 feet into the air until the 1930s. Three wells presently operate in open areas, one located in the downtown area, another on the southeast edge of the community, and another in West Side Park, on the west edge of town area where [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] celebrations were once held, locally referred to as "The Jubilee", in conjunction with an annual Horse Show.<ref name="Stapp">{{cite book
  | last = Stapp
  | first = Katherine
  |author2=W. I. Bowman
  | title = History Under Our Feet: The Story of Vermilion County, Illinois
  | publisher = Interstate Printers and Publishers, Inc.
  | year = 1968
  | location = Danville, Illinois
  | pages = 40}}</ref>

[[Hugh M. Luckey]] (1873&ndash;1946), farmer and Illinois state legislator, was born near Potomac, on a farm.<ref>'Illinois Blue Book 1947-1948,' Biographical Sketch of Hugh Magill Luckey, pg. 218-219</ref>