Odin

History

Odin originally was settled chiefly by Scandinavians. The village was named after Odin, a god in ancient Germanic tradition. The Territory of Illinois was separated from that of Indiana in 1809. The newly appointed governor for this territory was Ninian Edwards, and the seat of government established at Kaskaskia. By an act of Congress in April 1818, Illinois was admitted to the Union as the twenty-second state, with Shadrach Bond the first governor. Marion County was organized on January 24, 1823, and named for General Francis Marion, a hero of the Revolutionary War. Odin Township originally had the villages of Odin and Sandoval within its boundaries. However, in 1896 it was divided into Odin and Sandoval townships. The hundredth anniversary of the village dates from the time the Illinois Central Railroad secured land grants in order to build the railroad from Chicago to Cairo. The land not needed for the railroad bed was later sold to interested farmers for eight to twelve dollars per acre. Payments could be made over a period of several years. Thomas Deadmond, a Virginian, was Odin Township's first settler. He arrived in the timber in the southern part in 1827. The season was well advanced. He erected a shed-home with the roof slanted toward the north and the south wall left open. A log fire afforded warmth and a cooking area. Mr. Deadmond entered eighty acres in section 28 in January 1837. Silas Barr came to the township in 1829. Two years later he entered the first tract of land in section 27. Soon his brother James N. Barr came from Tennessee. This was the father of Oliver Barr and grandfather of Hobart Barr. Samuel McClelland settled in 1830 near Silas Barr. Three brothers by the name of Wilburn settled here at an early date. James Adams, Thomas Pigg and…

Geography

Odin is located in western Marion County U.S. Route 50 runs through the northern part of the village as Poplar Street, leading east to Salem, the county seat, and west to Sandoval. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Odin has a total area of , all land. The village is drained to the southwest by tributaries of Turkey Creek, which continues southwest to Crooked Creek, a west-flowing tributary of the Kaskaskia River.

Race & ethnicity