Casino Illinois In Joliet

Admin | January 02, 2012 | Comments Off

Casino Illinois In Joliet

Casino Illinois In Joliet

Did you know that Southern Illinois use to be nicknamed Egypt and then later Little Egypt? There are a couple of reasons it is named after a famous Middle Eastern country.

Little Egypt

According to the Egyptian Area Agency on Aging, in its article, "History of Southern Illinois," the most likely reason this region is known as Little Egypt is a biblical reference. The winter of 1830 and 1831 were severe and the corn crop up north was not good; forcing settlers south to purchase grain and to escape the more than 3 feet of snow. This trek by Northern Illinois settlers to Southern Illinois to buy grain was similar to travels by people to Egypt for grain as described in the book Genesis.

As they traveled with their wagons of corn back to Northern Illinois, people asked where they had been, and they would say "We've been to Egypt to get some corn," and the legend of Little Egypt was born. Another supportive reason is a geographical one, because of its location between the two great rivers, the Ohio and the Mississippi. The land in between the rivers bears resemblance to the shape of the Egyptian delta where the Nile finds the Mediterranean Sea.