Because of the terrain in the northeast corner of Greene County, few pioneers had chosen Beech Creek Township in which to live.  Few settlers had equipment to cut and haul to market a more than average log.  However, when the Illinois & Central Railroad came through, Solsberry became a logging center.  Solomon Wilkerson of North Carolina laid out the village in 1856 and named it Sols’-berry in honor of himself.  Logging was central to the economy of the village and hogs soon became second.   Solsberry had all the facilities to thrive.  In 1906, the construction of the viaduct for the Illinois & Central Railroad made Solsberry a busy place for a few years.  Like so many towns along the railroad prior to World War I, the natural resources had been depleted without replacement and the long trains of flatcars piled high with logs from Beech Creek’s forests became just a memory.

Provided by Mildred “Milly” (Coleman) Uland