A Proud Past
Richton Park, as our motto says, has a proud past. European settlers were living in the area in the early 1800s. The Sauk Trail which was used by the Sauk Indian tribe to move between their settlements and their sacred areas stretched all the way from the Mississippi around the Rock Island area all the way to what is now Ottowa, Canada.

The trail was also used by settlers. And when the Illinois Central railroad was built, the intersection of the two became a very busy area, laying the foundation of the beginnings of Richton Park.

When Missouri was a territory and was petitioning to become a state many wagon trains of settlers would go west to Missouri on Sauk Trail to make sure that state entered the Union as a free state and not a state that supported slavery. And many years before the Civil War started, Sauk Trail was part of the underground railroad that secretly transported many slaves to their freedom in Canada.

When the IC originally intersected Sauk Trail the two were on same level ground and Sauk Trail was, of course, just a dirt road. A viaduct was later built to run Sauk Trail under the IC tracks. Sauk Trail was for many years had four very narrow lanes going under the tracks. Freehs Inn, which is now in old downtown Matteson, use to stand by the Richton Park train station. It was torn down to make room for the new commuter parking lots back in the early 80s.

The fire department was, and still is, a very important part of the Richton Park community.

Not only did women man the hoses during World War II, they spent much of their time raising money to buy the fire trucks and the equipment that the all volunteer fire department needed!

See photos from Richton Park's history in our photo gallery.