Chamness
Ghost town · United States
- Abandoned
- unknown
- Founded
- —
- Population
- —
- Coordinates
- 37.677, -88.989
Why it was abandoned
❔ Cause unknown
Open sources don't name a cause. If you know it, add it to Wikidata or Wikipedia.
History
Chamness, also known as "Chamnesstown," is a former unincorporated community in Williamson County, Illinois, that disappeared in the mid-1930s when the town was bulldozed for the construction of Crab Orchard Lake. The Lake was part of the Crab Orchard Impoundment Project and was begun as a W.P.A. project after the Federal Government purchased a large section of property which included the town. The construction of Crab Orchard Lake was finished in 1938 and the water of the lake began to cover the sight of Chamnesstown, although the lake is relatively shallow in the former town's location and one can see the foundations upon which rested the town buildings. The Federal Government also built the Illinois Ordnance Plant, called "Ordill", as part of the Crab Orchard Impoundment Project on property located adjacent to Crab Orchard Lake and the former town in the late 1930s.