Broadwell is located at (40.067366, -89.442710). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 0.5 km sq (0.2 square miles), all land. The Village of Broadwell was laid out (platted) in 1856 by William Broadwell and Jacob Eisiminger. This occurred in conjunction with the construction of the railroad linking Chicago and Springfield. Prior to the plat of the Village, there was an inn three-quarters of a mile east of the present site, called "Tantivy". The name apparently derives from an old English hunting cry. Tantivy was in existence from about 1840 through the early 1950s; tradition states that Abraham Lincoln stopped there while traveling from Springfield to the Logan County courthouse at Postville (part of the present City of Lincoln, Illinois)while Lincoln rode the judicial circuit as a lawyer. It is recorded (with more certainty) that the Central Illinois cattle and land baron, John Dean Gillette, proposed marriage to his future wife, Lemira Parke, at the Tantivy cabin. It is likely that Tantivy was relocated by about one-eighth of a mile (from east to west) at least once during its existence. While Jacob Eisiminger was offered the honor of having the Village named after him, he declined, stating that the new village would be handicapped with such an unusual name. Accordingly, it was named Broadwell. Ironically, William Broadwell (of the City of Springfield) had very little further connection with the village, and he later moved to Kansas. On the other hand, the Eisiminger family were long-time merchants, postmasters and schoolteachers in the village (the last member of the family bearing this name died in early 2006). Broadwell became a shipping point for hogs, corn and later soybeans. The village and township has never known any great period of economic boom or bust. The township features some of the finest productive soils in North America and the world. The Village was located directly on historic Route U.S. 66 and featured the well-known "Pig Hip" Restaurant, operated by Ernest L. ("Ernie") Edwards from 1937 through 1991. The Pig Hip is still open today as a museum of Route 66 memorobilia, with Ernie Edwards as your host. Ernie has recently received the citation for "The BEST U.S. Route 66 attraction where the ORIGINAL GUY is still there". Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell%2C_Illinois