Leclaire, Illinois
CITY:
Edwardsville
COUNTY:
Madison
DEDICATED BY:
The City of Edwardsville, Friends of Laclaire, and The Illinois State Historical Society
DEDICATION DATE:
March 4, 2006 at 6:00:00 AM
The marker is located in Edwardsville, in the southeast part of town, at the intersection of Troy Road and Longfellow Avenue.
Social visionary N. O. Nelson founded the village of Leclaire in 1890, naming it after Edme Jean Leclaire, who inaugurated profit sharing in France. In contrast to unsanitary urban tenement districts, Leclaire was a model cooperative village offering affordable homes, a healthful environment, free education, many opportunities for recreation and self-improvement, and pleasant working conditions at the N. O. Nelson Manufacturing Company. To support his commitment to the “Golden Rule,” Nelson implemented profit-sharing and employee benefits. During the Great Depression, the City of Edwardsville annexed the Village. Leclaire was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.