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New Philadelphia developed as a town at a crossroads in this agricultural area through the 1860s, with an active roadway carrying agricultural products and other goods to the Mississippi River, 20 miles to the west. Founder Frank McWorter witnessed that growth until his death in 1854 at the age of 77 years, while his wife Lucy lived to 99 years of age, raising their family until her death in 1870. Planned construction of the first rail line through Pike County, to link Naples, Illinois with Hannibal, Missouri and the Mississippi River, helped further invigorate area land sales and development in the 1860s. However, when this railroad was built in 1869, it bypassed New Philadelphia and had station stops at Barry and the new town of Hadley Station, formed in 1870. Occupation of New Philadelphia declined thereafter, the town was unincorporated in 1885, and the site is now covered by farmlands.
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