Hillview, Illinois

    William Shelton, a ranger from Ft. Russell, Edwardsville, chose the alcove at the mouth of Hurricane Creek in 1826 to build a cabin. He left no record except Shelton's Hill, Shelton's Spring and Shelton's Graveyard. A back water lake bore the name of another early settler, Buck's Lake, for Joseph Buck, 1825. Another family name is Bishop's Dell for James Bishop, 1830. Seely and Hodges built a mill on the creek in 1833. The McClay Orchards have become famous for its varieties of apples and methods in orchard management.
    When the Chicago and Alton Railroad connected with the Kansas City branch at Roodhouse, Hillview was a lumber camp called Happyville. This is the name on the Illinois Atlas map of Greene County, 1876. The village of Hillview was incorporated in 1903.