|
2008 Federal Duck Stamp Contest Phone: 618-997-3344 |
About Us: History
Little is known of the first inhabitants of the region. Indications of their presence appear in artifacts of stone, bone, and clay. Some of the Kaskaskia and Shawnee may have lived in the Crab Orchard area, but it is more likely they used it as part of their hunting grounds.
The earliest frontiersmen came into the area in the late 1700's. By the 1840's, homesteaders had established farms throughout the area that now makes up the Refuge. Utilizing the abundances of game, homesteaders dined on buffalo, deer, quail and passenger pigeons.
By the 1930's, land in this area that once supported wildlife was depleted through extensive agriculture and logging practices. With the loss of habitats some wildlife species became displaced. In 1936, the Resettlement Administration acquired 32,000 acres of this depleted land along the Crab Orchard Creek. This became knows as the Crab Orchard Creek Project. The original plans called for the construction of three lakes for recreational use and as an industrial water supply.
The War Department purchased an additional 12,000 acres of land and established the Illinois Ordinance Plant (Ordill) at the start of World War II. They immediately started a crash development plan for this plant. This land was of importance to the site of this plant because of the geographic location, water supply, and federal ownership of Crab Orchard Lake. Explosives were the prime product which for safety reasons caused different phases of the operation to be isolated from others. The Ordill plant was scattered on more than 20,000 acres of land.
The final design of the Ordnance Plant circled the entire east end of Crab Orchard Lake. This development included 14 different areas which ranged from 40 to 640 or more acres in size. Roads, Railroads, telephone, power, water, and sewage lines joined the area.
The plant had a peak wartime employment of 10,000 workers and a monthly production of 250,000 105 MM shells, 175,000 155 MM shells, and 70,150 500# bombs.
Operations of the Illinois Ordnance Plant were suspended on August 14, 1945.
After the war the entire Crab Orchard Creek Project and Illinois Ordnance Plant was transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on August 5, 1947. With this Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge was established. The chief provisions of the act that initiated Crab Orchard stipulated that the area be developed for wildlife conservation, recreation, agriculture and industry.
