Lost town founded by black man added to national historic register BARRY, Ill. (AP) - A remote western Illinois pasture where archeologists are unearthing the earliest known town incorporated by a black man in the United States has been added to the National Register of Historic Places, officials said Monday. The federal designation could expand research and lure tourists to the once lost town of New Philadelphia, an integrated frontier village about 30 miles southeast of Quincy that was started in 1836 by freed slave Frank McWorter. ’For a former slave to create a biracial community before the Civil War and have it take root is remarkable,"said Paul Shackel, a University of Maryland archaeologist who led efforts to add New Philadelphia to the national register. Joining the nation's list of about 79,000 historic sites could attract new dollars to extend a three-year, $250,000 archaeological dig that concludes next spring at the 42-acre site near Barry, said Shackel, who is coordinating the project funded by the National Science Foundation. The dig has uncovered thousands of artifacts, including pieces from a then-popular African game and British ceramic dishes that indicate the town was well connected with regional and national markets rather than shut off because of its integrated roots, Shackel said. McWorter, whose grave is near the lost town, sold lots to both blacks and whites, using the proceeds to buy freedom for other members of his family. The town grew to about 170 people before it began to slowly fade away when it was bypassed by the railroad in 1869. By the 1930s, it was plowed over as if it never existed. ’It's a heroic story about what he had to do to set up the town and to purchase his family's freedom. It's a story about freedom,"Shackel said. Officials predict New Philadelphia will make largely rural Pike County a historical draw, coupled with the area's ties to Abraham Lincoln, the Mormon Church's roots in nearby Nauvoo and Mark Twain's legacy across the Mississippi River in Hannibal, Mo. ’You put those things together, it will bring people to the area,"said Phil Bradshaw of the New Philadelphia Association, a local group promoting the town's heritage. Supporters of the town will now seek to add New Philadelphia to about 2,000 U.S. sites with national landmark status. The designation would enable Congress to consider making the town a national park, which would boost funding for tourism and marketing. Bradshaw said his group ultimately hopes to develop a museum, education center and perhaps a replica of the town. He said the site already draws tourists daily to see home foundations and other traces of the city uncovered by the archaeological dig. Attorney: Officer accused of racial profiling followed policy

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