Alexis, IL

Alexis sits on the boundary between Warren and Mercer counties in western Illinois, with a street grid that crosses four townships. The 2020 census counted 793 residents. It began as Alexandria Station when a railroad reached the site in 1870; a second Illinois town with a similar name prompted the change to Alexis. That origin remains legible in the compact center and the old Alexis Opera House, which now holds several businesses.

ATTRJoe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0

The village's distinctive working-life fact is Alexis Fire Equipment. Founded in 1947, the company builds custom fire apparatus at its East Broadway facility and now employs over 80 engineers, craftspeople, and mechanics in a 75,000-square-foot operation. Specialized manufacturing gives a village this size an unusual industrial signature. Warren County describes Alexis Community Park's converted school gym as a gathering place, and the Alexis Museum fills in the local story near Scott Street and Palmer Avenue. Boundary lines, a small central park, and a fire-truck maker all occupy the same few blocks, which makes Alexis easy to picture.