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Halfway, (or Half Way) Illinois was a rough and very wet unincorporated community nicknamed "Little Juarez" in Williamson County, Illinois, at what is believed to the crossroads of Illinois Route 37 and Stotlar Road between Marion and Johnston City. Its heyday was between 1915 and 1925. The name originated because it was about halfway between Marion and Herrin, located a few miles to the west on what is now a county highway (Stotlar Road). The nickname came about from the general lawlessness, shootings and proliferation of gambling and booze, even during Prohibition. It is not to be confused with another ghost town in the county by the same name, Halfway, Illinois, that was a post office and country general store about halfway from Marion and Corinth. ==History== One of the earliest references to the community dates to September 1916 when the circuit judge, D. T. Hartwell, issued an injunction against 31 saloons and clubs in nearby Herrin restraining them from "selling intoxicating liquors of any kind." The sheriff and his deputy (and future Prohibition Era sheriff) George Galligan served the court injunctions on establishments on the 9th. A few days later one of the Marion newspapers noted that "Herrin is again dry," and that "now Energy and Half Way will become points of interest to Herrin tourists."〔Sept. 15, 1916. “Thirty-One Injunctions.” ''The Daily Free Press'' (Carbondale, Ill.). 2.〕 Following the onslaught of nationwide Prohibition in 1920, Halfway became an even bigger destination with joints on just about all corners. Charlie Birger, an area bootlegger and gangster became the best known of the local operators. The joints became targets of Klan raids in 1923 and early 1924, followed by two targeted fires which eventually destroyed all of the buildings but Birger's. On October 7, 1924, Birger's joint burned at Half Way, identified as 3.5 miles north of Marion. "This was one of the buildings which had been closed for a year under a government injunction and was where one room had been used for the sale of refreshments contrary to the law while the other had been prepared for a dance hall altho it had not been opened when the injunction went into effect. At that time it was reported that it was controlled by Charlie Birger. The origin of the fire is unknown. The building was of frame and it and its contents were a total loss."〔Oldham Paisley, comp. 2006. ''Newspaper Articles from Oldham Paisley’s Scrapbooks.'' Marion, Ill.: Williamson County Historical Society. 35. Oct. 8, 1924. "Halfway Building Was Burned Tuesday Night."〕 In June 1925, a reporter described what was left. "For nearly a year, the lone building (joint ) stood alone on the state concrete highway but nothing now remains but weeds, charred wood and broken bottles." Before the fires and the raids, "saloons, dance floors, restaurants and sleeping rooms made up the settlement." He claimed the settlement, also known as Little Juarez, was really a part of Whiteash, but it's not clear if it was actually inside the village, or just adjacent to the village which was generally farther to the east.〔June 16, 1925. "(International News Service)." ''The Daily Independent'' (Murphysboro, Ill.). 2.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Halfway, Illinois (Little Juarez)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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