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Contribution #93 of 365
Free Frank McWorter
Founder of the First U.S. Town Platted and Registered by a Black American
1836
The contribution
How this work helped shape America
Entrepreneur Free Frank McWorter founded New Philadelphia, Illinois, in 1836, the first known U.S. town platted and legally registered by a Black American. He developed and sold town lots as an economic enterprise and used earnings from business and land transactions to purchase freedom for family members.