Pulaski, Illinois

The village of Pulaski, near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, carries the name of a Polish cavalry hero who gave his life for American independence. Casimir Pulaski emigrated from Poland, served under George Washington, saved the general's life at the Battle of Brandywine, and died of wounds at the Siege of Savannah in seventeen seventy-nine. He is one of only eight people ever granted honorary United States citizenship.

When the Illinois Central Railroad established a construction camp here in eighteen fifty-two, workers named it Camp Pulaski in his honor. A post office came in eighteen fifty-six. The Camp was dropped from the name in eighteen seventy-two, and the village incorporated in eighteen ninety-eight.

The county itself was named for the same man in eighteen forty-three, long before the village incorporated.