Peterstown, Illinois is an unincorporated community in LaSalle County, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The community has a mostly German Catholic background.

Geography

Located about a mile west of Illinois Route 251

Illinois Route 251

Illinois Route 251 is a north–south state road that runs on the former alignment of U.S. Route 51 before Interstate 39 was built in central Illinois. It runs from U.S. 51 at the border with Wisconsin to I-39 and U.S. 51 south of Kappa. Illinois 251 is long.- Route description :Illinois 251...

, the parish community is located at the junction of E. First Road and N. 39th Road (dubbed, Peterstown Road). It lies within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria. It is home to a Catholic church

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

, a no longer operating Catholic School

Catholic school

Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...

, a parish hall/ school gymnasium, a rectory, a cemetery, several houses, and a one room, circa 1910 school house.

Demographics

Because Peterstown has no defined boundaries, the population is estimated by the amount of members of the parish. The Sts. Peter & Paul Church has approximately 80 families as members. This comes to about 130 people in all.

History

The brick school building located north of the church was constructed in 1914, and had its final graduation class in 1976. The Rectory was constructed in 1918. On the schoolgrounds is a statue of the blessed Mary sheltered by an alcove in a stone wall. This was constructed in the early 1950s. Also, in the 1950s, was the construction of the parish hall. The parish itself needed a meeting space, the school needed a gymnasium, both so that dinners, athletic activities, and other miscellaneous activities could be set there. In honor of its long-serving pastor, Father Paul Hettinger, it is known as the Paul Hettinger Parish Center. A railroad track

Rail tracks

The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...

 ran through the village, and a grain mill

Gristmill

The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...

 was constructed along it. The mill and the tracks, however, were torn down in the 1980s. Also in the immediate vicinity of Peterstown are the residences of the Kleins and the Burkes. Behind the Klein residence is an old schoolhouse, which served as a temporary school in the early 1910's until the current school building was constructed. On June 9th, 2010, while the schoolhouse was in the process being re-sided, it caught ablaze. The roof and back of the building were completely charred. The historic schoolhouse was razed in autumn of 2010.
The Parish itself was founded in 1853. A church was constructed at the sight for the local farmers that lived in the area. This building burned down, as did its predecessor. The citizens of the area needed a non-flammable

Flammability

Flammability is defined as how easily something will burn or ignite, causing fire or combustion. The degree of difficulty required to cause the combustion of a substance is quantified through fire testing. Internationally, a variety of test protocols exist to quantify flammability...

, non wood solution. The people decided that the new building shall be made of limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

. So, limestone was hauled in from the quarry in nearby Troy Grove, Illinois

Troy Grove, Illinois

Troy Grove is a village in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 305 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Ottawa–Streator Micropolitan Statistical Area.Troy Grove is notable as the birthplace of Wild Bill Hickok...

, approximately 5 miles away. The current church was completed in 1872. The church itself holds weekly services on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, officiated by either Fr. Fredi Gomez Torres or Fr. Gary Blake.

Perception

Though not on many maps of the state, the community means a lot to its occupants. A long time resident of the rectory, Pastor Paul Hettinger (1913-2003), once stated, "Peterstown: It is not a town, it's a state of mind."

Today

In modern days, the Peterstown school has been put to use as a TEC Center (Teens Encounter Christ). The rectory is currently being used as excess residency, and is sometimes used as the headquarters of an adult Christian group known as Cursillo. Like Reverend Hettinger said, "Peterstown isn't a town, it's a state of mind." It will most likely remain that way for the small population of dwellers and parishioners for many ages to come.

Sources

• Hettinger, Paul. "Sts. Peter and Paul Parish Peterstown: A Continuing History." 1997. Print.
• The Peterstown History Collection