Shawnee Hill
|
|
The Shawnee Hills is a region of Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois.
The Kentucky part consists of many low, rolling hills, primarily underlain by rocks of Pennsylvanian age, including coal. The coal is primarily accessed by strip mining techniques, which have been envrionmentally devastating to parts of this region.
Mineral resources of the Illinois part include fluorite, mined for many years near Golconda. The Shawnee National Forest contains much of this part of Illinois. This area includes some fairly remoted designated wilderness areas, and much scenery, although the forests are almost exclusively second- and third- growth. The Shawnee Hills of Illinois attracted may settlers from farther south in Kentucky and Tennessee, especially during the early 19th century, and the culture of the region still has a decidedly Southern flavor.