Cottage Home was located on the Frankfort — Jonesboro Post Road in section 16, of Grassy Township. In 1839 settlers here found fertile ground and when it was cleared made excellent farms. A neighborhood of small farms soon sprang up here. Zi White opened a general store in the neighborhood. On February 23, 1872 he opened a post office in his store and named it White. He was the postmaster. His son, John, became clerk of Williamson County. John was also a Lieutenant Colonel in the 31st Illinois Infantry during the Civil War.
William Spence succeeded White as storekeeper and postmaster and the name of the post office was changed to Cottage Home. Spence was postmaster until February 18, 1903. Then Albert Chamness moved the post office into his store and became postmaster. The post office was closed May 31, 1911.
Cottage Home reached its height of prosperity in the 1880s. There were two stores, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter and coffin shop, a school, a Free Will Baptist Church and a G.A.R. Post in the hamlet. John Mclntosh carried the mail on horseback from Carbondale to Pulley’s Mill. George W. Crowder was the blacksmith. J.R. Townsend was the carpenter. Zi White and James Sanders ran the stores. Sanders enlisted in the 31st Illinois Infantry the day John A. Logan spoke on Marion Square. He became a Captain and was wounded twice. He was a prime figure in organizing the G. A. R. and the post office in Cottage Home.
Dr. G. J. Baker began practicing medicine in the spring of 1878 and continued practice to in Cottage Home until his death. He also ran a general store that included drugs.
The Free Will Baptist Church was organized in 1882. The church sat a quarter of a mile west of the main road. A lane leads to the church. This lane was once the only street in Cottage Home. Here were located the stores and shops. The church is all that remains of the hamlet. The church building is well kept. The church is active and has an active Sunday school and regular preaching services.
(Ghost Towns of Southern Illinois, by Glenn J. Sneed, published 1977)