Editing Carrier Mills, Illinois (section)

=== Lakeview (Pond Settlement) ===
{{Main|Lakeview, Illinois}}
Carrier Mills has a great [[African American]] history and influence. Free blacks founded the small early pioneer settlement of Lakeview, a mile south of Carrier Mills, shortly after the War of 1812. ''The History of Saline County'' (published by Saline County
Genealogical Society in 1997) states that "Lakeview, a colored community south of town (Carrier Mills), is an older settlement than Carrier Mills. It is the oldest black settlement in Illinois. It was first named Pond Settlement because of the [[swamp]] land that surrounded it. According to local tradition free blacks living in the Pond Settlement helped runaway slaves and indentured servants escape from the saline works and the [[Old Slave House]] near Equality, Illinois.<ref name=":0" />

Lakeview had its own school and grocery store along with many homes. In 1850, a Union Church was established near Carrier Mills in Saline County, Illinois. Most members were either Baptist or Methodist. An African Methodist Episcopal Church was organized at the home of Irvin Allen, who built a one-room log church building on his property. After the church burned, the congregation rebuilt and moved the church to Carrier Mills, where it sits today. This congregation is now Baber Chapel AME Church. The Lakeview cemetery has become a state historical landmark. The area of Lakeview is still a nearly 100% black area. After the closure of the Lakeview school in the 1950s, many people moved to the east side of Carrier Mills, named "East End" by locals and in the Carrier Mills Register newspaper. There was much tension felt between the white and black populations in the town.<ref>[http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1996/ihy960463.html Early Towns of Saline County<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905215510/http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1996/ihy960463.html |date=September 5, 2006 }}</ref>

In 2022 a preliminary application for a federal historical designation district was submitted by Lakeview descendant Brendan Jennings. The Saline County Tourism Board voted to create a committee to spearhead the project.<ref>{{cite web |last=Youngblood |first=Jasime |date=July 10, 2022 |title=Lakeview-township founded by runaway and freed slaves pre Civil War, seeks historical designation |url=https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/lakeview-township-founded-by-runaway-and-freed-slaves-pre-civil-war-seeks-historical-designation/article_22393db2-0093-11ed-8b9a-3fedb392be08.html |website=WPSD Local 6}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Allen |first=Arriyonna |last2=Patterson |first2=Ethan |date=May 29, 2023 |title=Lake View community members spend Memorial Day honoring veterans and ancestors |url=https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/lake-view-community-members-spend-memorial-day-honoring-veterans-and-ancestors/article_46b93842-fe65-11ed-9550-2b41dc730cdc.html |website=WPSD Local 6}}</ref>

In 2023 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) was awarded a $75,000 grant from the National Park Service to recognize significant African American heritage properties in southern Illinois. It was a collaborative effort between the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office, a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and the Center for Archaeological Investigations at Southern Illinois University to be used to produce National Register nominations for three resources associated with Black history in southern Illinois. Additionally, the project will amend the existing National Register nominations for the following sites including the Carrier Mills Archaeological District, to reflect the African American heritage of the Pond Settlement, also known as Lakeview.
<ref>{{cite web |date=2023-11-20 |title=IDNR receives grant to recognize and research African American heritage properties in southern Illinois |url=https://dnr.illinois.gov/press-release.27329.html |website=Illinois Department of Natural Resources}}</ref>