Oglesby grew from an amalgamation of several mining villages, such as Kenosha, Portland, and Black Hollow.

Thatcher Tucker Bent purchased the mine and mineral rights as the Oglesby Coal Company.

Mrs. Josephine Bent even organized English classes for the immigrant miner's wives.

The conflict eventually liquidated the Oglesby Coal Company, with the Bent selling the machinery to Marquette and auctioning off the farm animals.

[8][9] With over two million visitors a year, Starved Rock is the most visited of any Illinois state park.

They were intended to boost the morale of the American people suffering from the effects of the Depression by depicting uplifting subjects.

In 1942 artist Fay E. Davis painted an oil on canvas mural titled The Illini and Potawatomes Struggles at Starved Rock in the town's post office.

The mural's muted earth tones faded badly over time and it was restored in 1988.

In 1993 a post office janitor complained about the nudity of the features of the Native Americans depicted in the mural.