Map of Beckemeyer village

Beckemeyer is a village in Wade Township, Clinton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 923 as of the 2020 census.

Beckemeyer village overview:
Name:	Beckemeyer village
LSAD Code:	47
LSAD Description:	village (suffix)
State:	Illinois
County:	Clinton County
Elevation:	456 ft (139 m)
Total Area:	0.62 sq mi (1.60 km²)
Land Area:	0.62 sq mi (1.60 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	923
Population Density:	1,495.95/sq mi (577.74/km²)
Area code:	618
FIPS code:	1704533
GNISfeature ID:	2398063
Website:	http://beckemeyeril.gov/

Online Interactive Map

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Beckemeyer online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Beckemeyer location map. Where is Beckemeyer village?

Beckemeyer location on the U.S. Map. Where is Beckemeyer village. — Beckemeyer location on the U.S. Map.

Beckemeyer location on the Illinois map. Where is Beckemeyer village. — Location of Beckemeyer in Illinois.

History

Samuel B. Watkins was reported to be the first settler in the area, circa 1817. Beckemeyer began as a way station on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. It was organized and laid out in 1866 and originally named “Buxton” in honor of a railroad attorney.

A large coal seam underlying the village and surrounding area was mined starting in 1894, resulting in growth of Buxton. It was renamed “Beckemeyer” after an election held in 1905. The first school and bank were opened in 1906.

On 25 March 1947, the Centralia Coal mine exploded killing 111 people. Nine of the people killed were citizens of Beckemeyer. In 1997 a memorial was built in Beckemeyer, the memorial called “Miners Memorial Park” is dedicated to the miners from Beckemeyer that died in the explosion.

On 7 February 1976, a train crashed into a truck going 56 mph killing 12 people including 11 children, and left another four injured. The accident was the worst in Clinton County History.

A Zinc smelter plant called Circle Smelting Corp operated in the village from 1904 to 1994, in 1993 a study indicated the town was highly contaminated with over 10,000 cubic yards of industrial waste high in lead content from the industry. In 1994 the EPA forced the plant to shut down and declared it a Superfund site. About 35,000 cubic yards of material was removed from over 300 properties and deposited under a concrete cover.