Over the last 150 years, many towns and small communities have come and gone. Some only existed on paper and never got off the ground. There were many reasons for the rise and fall of these communities, including war, railroad and highway placement and changing industry, among others.
Most of these communities have disappeared completely, but some exist only in the old cemeteries left behind. While out caching recently a granite marker caught our attention and we discovered this neglected, but not entirely abandoned, cemetery. A recent marker lists 98 names of those buried here, but only a few headstones are still standing. After a little research, I found this in the local newspaper:
Binghamton - also spelled as Binghampton on various documents, maps, and a cemetery monument - began life after the great flood of 1862 wiped out Maine Prairie and other river towns.
During the Civil War, loyal citizens of Maine Prairie supported the Union cause and thought it was their patriotic duty to organize a military company. They formed a loose group and called themselves the "Maine Prairie Rifles" in 1862. Under the laws of California, they registered as a company of the State Militia under the same name on Sept. 19, 1863, with 72 men enrolled. Although they had just received new arms, including the Springfield rifle, they had no armory, but plans were soon in the works to build one. A 2-acre lot was purchased and the company built a one-story brick armory about three miles northwest of Maine Prairie.
The construction of the armory was the catalyst providing the start of the community of Binghamton. The new town was named after O. Bingham, who was responsible for forming Maine Prairie Township in August 1863.
The company met regularly for drills, target practice and picnics. It acted as a social arm of the community in bringing the scattered township together.
Binghamton established a post office in 1864 and by the end of the war had a Methodist-Episcopal Church, a school and a Templars Hall with 125 members.
In 1866, D.L. Munson purchased the armory and added a second floor. The lower floor of the building served as a store and the upper story a public hall. In 1871, he sold the building to the school district and the old armory served out its remaining years as a school and finally a meeting hall for the local Farm Bureau. The shaky old building was torn down in 1950 and its bricks salvaged.
The problem with Binghamton was it never had a viable economic base and for all intents and purposes the town died in 1871. Its inhabitants gradually drifted away to other thriving towns nearby. Today, the only reminder of the town is a cemetery with a recently dedicated monument. You can visit the cemetery and the monument by traveling south from Dixon on Highway 113 to the intersection at Binghamton Road. The names of the pioneers buried in the tree-shaded graveyard are engraved on the monument.
The cache is a smallish plastic box - 3x8x8 inches, so plan accordingly. Please be respectful of those buried here, many have been here a long, long, time. See if you can find the name of the person with the earliest birth on the communal marker, as well at that of the person with the most recent death. And don't forget to see the grave of Cocoa the bunny...
(5/20/04 - I visited the site for maintenance and found the cache had been chewed up by a mower. I've replaced the container and moved it about 75' to a spot that should be safe from machinery.)