by Dan Guillory (Author)
Macon County occupies nearly 600 square miles of fertile farmland in the geographic center of Illinois. Abraham Lincoln made his first Illinois home here, on a pleasant bluff overlooking the Sangamon River, near presentday Harristown. On May 10, 1860, he was first nominated for the presidency in Decatur, the county seat. During the World War I era, Macon County boasted over a dozen hamlets and villages, including Warrensburg and Maroa, which both enjoyed opera houses and busy train stations. Maroa was home to John Crocker, who became a famous banker, while nearby Forsyth produced Black Bart, the infamous bank robber. After World War II, Decatur became known as the "soybean capital of the world." And today, agricultural and industrial workers depend on one another, growing and processing the corn and soybeans that have made Macon County a self-sustaining economic engine.