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The Saline Creek Pioneer Village & Museum is a place to "see and touch memories." Located on the south side of Harrisburg, there is a sign on Hwy 13. The grounds were an original 175 acres when purchased in 1863 by the county for $1,402.50 to be used as a place for those who could not care for themselves. Over the years the Saline County Pauper Farm was sold with only 3 1/2 acres remaining today. It is now leased to the Saline County Historical Society and is on the National Register of Historical Places.
The Pioneer Village represents a pioneer settlement of the era 1800 to 1840. It contains a Blockhouse, a saddle bag cabin, a barn with a threshing floor (one of the few remaining in the United States), a post office, a school, a Quaker Church, a jail, and a regular cabin. The Ford-Wilson (pirates) cabin from Elizabethtown will be redone and open later this year. Using authentic cabins, of the era, the village was re-created by John Allen the noted author of the book "Legends and Lore of Southern Illinois."
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