Metro East St. Louis Brooklyn Venice Madison Granite City Pontoon Beach Mitchell Fairmont City Collinsville Maryville Troy Glen Carbon Edwardsville Hamel
Metro East St. Louis
Originally known as Illinoistown, this town is located in historic St. Clair County, along the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis, Missouri. About 1797 a ferry station was established on the site by Captain James Piggott, a pioneer and Illinois territorial judge, and in 1818 a village was laid out. The home of giant packing houses [...]
Brooklyn
Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, just north of East St. Louis. It is the oldest black town in the United States and was named for Elijah P. Lovejoy (1802-1837), an abolitionist from St. Louis.
In 1829, led by “Mother” Priscilla Baltimore, a group of eleven families composed of both [...]
Venice
This Madison County river town of 2,500 is in the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is joined to the city by the McKinley Bridge, the first crossing of Route 66. The bridge was owned by the city of Venice and operated as a toll bridge. After decades of disrepair due to the lack of toll [...]
Madison
Madison is a city located in Madison County. A city of about 4,500, it is home to Gateway International Raceway and the first Bulgarian Orthodox church in the United States.
Granite City
The first European settlers began arriving in the Granite City area in the 1830s attracted by the rich bottom land east of the Mississippi River. Granite City was originally called Six Mile Prairie because its farmers had to travel six miles to St. Louis to sell their produce and buy supplies. An early ferry operated [...]
Pontoon Beach
The Village of Pontoon Beach is located approximately 10 miles northeast of downtown St. Louis in Madison County, Illinois. A community of 6,000 people, Pontoon Beach is bordered by the 2,300 acre Gateway Commerce Center, I-270 and I-255 and the communities of Granite City and Madison.
Mitchell
This is an unincorporated community located at the junction of Interstate 270 and Illinois Route 203, part of former U.S. Highway 66. It is located about twenty miles north of East St. Louis. Neighboring towns include Granite City, Pontoon Beach, Edwardsville, and Hartford. A few years ago, Mitchell tried to become an independent city, but [...]
Fairmont City
A village in St. Clair County with a population of almost 2,500, Fairmont City has the highest percentage of Hispanic poplulation (55%) in the entire St. Louis Metropolitan area.
Collinsville
Collinsville, a historic town on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, has a sweeping view of downtown St. Louis and the Gateway Arch, only ten miles to the west. In recent years, this town of 24,000 has evolved into a fast growing, “bedroom community” for St. Louis commuters.
It is renowned for having the world’s largest [...]
Maryville
German farmers started settling in the area near St. John Lutheran Church between 1840 and 1845. The area on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River was known as Ridge Prairie. The specific area near the church was called Pleasant Ridge.
Troy
In 1819, settler John Jarvis sold ten acres for $100 to James Riggen and David Hendershott. The community formerly known as Columbia was then mapped out, surveyed, and renamed Troy. Within a year, the village was populated by 120 people. Troy’s humble beginnings started with just a band mill, storehouse, taverns, and housing. Troy officially [...]
Glen Carbon
In 1799, David Bagley, a Virginia Baptist minister passed through the Glen Carbon area and determined that it was a land of such expanse and luxuriant vegetation that he compared it to the Biblical “Land of Goshen.” In 1801, Colonel Samuel Judy received a military grant for 100 acres of land near the base of [...]
Edwardsville
The third oldest city in Illinois, Edwardsville was first settled in 1805 when Thomas Kirkpatrick built a one-room log cabin on the ridge above Cahokia Creek. Edwardsville’s namesake, Ninian Edwards, was appointed territorial governor in 1809 when the Illinois Territory was established. He built a home here in 1819-20. Edwards served as governor of the [...]
Hamel
This is a town that proudly proclaims its heritage with banners, calling itself “The Best Little Town on Route 66.” Established in 1818, this small town of less than 600 people wasn’t even an incorporated village until 1955. The community was named for Jack Hamel, a farmer who owned a large amount of land and [...]
