Caseyville, IL

Caseyville is a St. Clair County village about 11 miles east of downtown St. Louis, with 4,400 residents in the 2020 census. The Illinois Coal Mining Company established the village in 1849, naming it for Zadok Casey, and built a railroad to Brooklyn in 1851 to move coal. That combination of coal, rail, and the Mississippi River lowland shaped the early settlement and still gives Caseyville a distinct working-town backstory. Village Park on West Reynolds Street is the main outdoor gathering place, with three pavilions, two fishing lakes, a blacktop walking trail, a fenced playground, a skateboard park, and an accessible fishing dock.

The Caseyville Public Library on South Second Street hosts children's programs, adult events, a community garden, and an oral-history project that records residents' memories. Village Hall, the post office, and the library sit close to the older street grid, with nearby Collinsville and St. Louis handling the larger regional errands. Caseyville is a former coal village where park, library, and local memory work keep the center in use.