The old town of St. Clair, founded by John St. John in 1837, had been the cause of much dispute since 1846 when St. John died, leaving no heirs. Though the Illinois and St. Louis Coal Railroad had been able to claim an easement through this section, the true ownership was uncertain and while the property was tied up in litigation, squatters took over the property. By the turn of the century, this area, consisting of perhaps twelve blocks, was part of the "red light" district of East St. Louis, with brothels and taverns intermixed with black-occupied shanties. As such, it marked the boundary of the proverbial "other side of the tracks" and faced the central business district of East St. Louis. Everything southeast of Broadway Avenue, including Illinoistown, was the black-occupied ghetto of East St. Louis (Rudwick 1964:7-17).