The historic village of New Salem lay two miles to the north. Its founders believed it would someday become a great river port like St. Louis or Cincinnati, but after just ten years the town vanished, supplanted by the new city of Petersburg, now the seat of Menard County. During its short history, many pioneer families moved in and out of the community in search of new and better opportunities. Abraham Lincoln lived in New Salem from 1831 to 1837, and there he transformed from an unskilled laborer into a businessman, postmaster, land surveyor, attorney, and statesman.