PITTSFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The first steps have been taken in a special study to determine whether the New Philadelphia site in western Illinois should become a national park.

More than 100 people attended a public meeting Wednesday in Pittsfield where a National Park Service team explained the study process and heard from residents. The (Quincy) Herald-Whig reports the study will look at New Philadelphia’s suitability and feasibility as a national park site.

The 19th-century racially diverse town of New Philadelphia, founded by former slave Free Frank McWorter, thrived with residents until a railroad bypassed it in 1869 and it dissolved in 1885. It’s located about 280 miles southwest of Chicago.

A recommendation to the secretary of the interior comes from the park service, but Congress makes final determinations on new national parks.