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Sabina, also earlier known as Monarch, is an unincorporated community in West Township, McLean County, Illinois, United States.[1][2]

History

Sabina was established in 1878[3] on the Havana Rantoul & Eastern Railroad "Punkin’ Vine" narrow-gauge railway.[4] Sabina was named for Mrs. Sabina Moore. She and her husband, Joseph G. Moore, were instrumental in the creation of the town.[5] At one time Sabina had a hotel, church, two grain elevators, a general store and several homes. A post office was located in the hotel lobby.[6] Unfortunately, there were several other similarly named towns and in 1881 the post office was named Monarch.[5] In the late 19th century Sabina was often referred to by the name of its post office, Monarch.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Sabina, Illinois". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Sabina Topo Map in McLean County IL
  3. ^ "The County : West," The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), 12 December 1878, page 4, column 5, "A store house, scale house an post office are nearly completed at Sabina. J.G. Moore's grain buying establishment will be operated by John Savage, for Messrs. Barnum & Keenan, of Leroy."; digital image, Newspapers.com (http://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 23 February 2021).
  4. ^ "Sabina," The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), 26 March 1879, page 3, column 3.
  5. ^ a b "Sabina Changed to Monarch." The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois), 9 April 1881, page 3, column 3.
  6. ^ "History of West Township," Heritage of The Prairie : A History of LeRoy and of Empire and West Townships McLean County, Illinois (The LeRoy Bi-Centennial Commission, 1976), page 28.