Yegorlykskaya

Yegorlykskaya was established in 1809 on the Middle Yegorlyk River, along the road south of the Don. The first settlers built dugout homes on both banks of the stream, making a new Cossack community amid the steppe. A wooden church followed in 1811. The road through the settlement linked the Don country with lands farther south, while the river and surrounding grasslands provided a setting for farming and livestock keeping.