Settled initially by a group of 40 German immigrants in 1846, the town is heralded as one of the earliest in Bureau County. Between the city of Princeton and Hollowayville is a shallow valley that was once the site of 13 coal mines. Named Coal Hollow, the community, formed after the Civil War, supplied Princeton and other towns with coal. The community had 50 homes, a church, a general store—all are gone now save for a few houses and a marker on the side of a hill heading into Coal Hollow from the west.