Hello..... Foreman no longer exists. My mother was born there in 1915 and the following is a historical sketch about the town. FOREMAN, IL Forman is located at that point where the C B and Q Railroad and the Big Four Railroads cross. This is in the southeastern quarter of the northeast quarter of Section 31 of Cache Township. Where the two railroads crossed, the Forman station was set up and a union depot was built. Then, the village which had been known as Ridenhower became Foreman. The Ridenhower Post Office opened in 1895. The name of the post office was changed to Forman in 1911 and was discontinued in 1930. The first house in the community was built from cypress logs in 1818. Farms grew until a century later it had a post office, three general stores, a hotel with restaurant, a union depot, freight house two section houses, a school, a church, and about 30 houses. The village had about 200 inhabitants. There were four sawmills and a flour mill. One of the stores and the hotel were run by Lee Bridges. Another store was run by the Ridenhower Family, and the third store was operated by the Wheatly Family. Forman was a center of exchange for passengers and freight, in addition to serving the needs of the people living in that area. The Methodist Circuit Rider came in the early days to preach and to organize Methodist Churches. A church was organized and a school was built. Forman was built around the church and school. Next to the railroads, timber was the primary business. This was followed by trapping and hunting. The area was full of white oak and red oak, as well as the premium timber which was cypress. Forman reached its zenith in 1918 which was the same year that a bill was passed in the legislature and signed by the government to construct concrete paved highways. The truck and the passenger car replaced the railroad traffic so that eventually there were no passenger trains and only large quantities of heavy, bulky goods were shipped by rail. The freight houses and the depot were closed, the hotel was closed, the timber was exhausted, and families moved away. In 1957 a tornado swept through Forman destroying several buildings, including the Methodist Church. The people of the community bought the brick schoolhouse and organized a Community Church. Today, no buildings remain at the location of what was a primary railroad center in Johnson County. Regarding the library. The Librarian Margaret Mathis (kin to me) is very knowledgeable about the area and genealogy. The Library trelephone number is 618-658-5051. I thinki the Library is closed on Thursdays, so you might want to call to check about operating hours. Regards, Rebel Kreklow San Diego, CA,