New Information on Schoper, Illinois

All ghost towns have a fascinating history, and Schoper, Illinois is no different. Located about eight miles from Carlinville, the town of Schoper (also known as Standard City) was originally Thomas Schoper’s 500-acre family farm. In 1918, Standard Oil of...

Carlinville and Schoper, Illinois

Update! This article was updated in 2013. To read the latest, click here! I love ghost towns. All ghost towns have a fascinating history, and this one in Schoper, Illinois is no different. It’s the real deal – a boom town that went bust and literally...

“Coming Out of the Mud”

If you could spend a day in the early 1900s, you might have a little trouble understanding what people were saying! Some words had radically different meanings. For instance, there’s the word “slacker.”  A slacker was any able-bodied young man who...