Map of Panola village, Illinois

Panola is a village in Woodford County, Illinois, United States. The population was 45 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Panola is one of the smallest communities in Illinois today. It is located about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of El Paso, along Illinois Route 251 (next to U.S. 51).

Panola village overview:
Name:	Panola village
LSAD Code:	47
LSAD Description:	village (suffix)
State:	Illinois
County:	Woodford County
Elevation:	737 ft (225 m)
Total Area:	0.43 sq mi (1.11 km²)
Land Area:	0.43 sq mi (1.11 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	47
Population Density:	109.56/sq mi (42.27/km²)
Area code:	309
FIPS code:	1757524

Online Interactive Map

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

Panola location map. Where is Panola village?

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

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

History

Some sources, including Stewart, pg. 362, as well as several Woodford County history books claim the name Panola was fabricated by J.B. Calhoun, land commissioner of the Illinois Central Railroad, by arbitrarily combining single consonants and vowels. However, the 1954 El Paso Story correctly records that while Panola was assigned by an official of the Illinois Central Railroad, it simply duplicates the name of Panola County, Mississippi as well as several municipalities in the southern U.S. named Panola. Panola is a Native American word for cotton.

Because of its aging population and apparent lack of enthusiasm for others to be involved in operation of the local government, in 2004 the village board of Panola attempted to unincorporate the town. Only one other town in Illinois had successfully unincorporated previously. Of the 33 residents at the time, 27 had voting rights. The measure failed 16 to 11. It needed a majority to pass.