Colchester, IL

Colchester is a McDonough County city of 1,108 residents in the 2020 census, with U.S. Route 136 running through the center as Macomb Street and North Street. Macomb is seven miles northeast, Carthage 19 miles west, and Argyle Lake State Park sits about two miles north. The city took its name from Colchester, England, while coal discovered nearby in the 1850s later gave a local rock unit the name Colchester Coal. Farm roads meet the highway on the edge of town.

Argyle Lake State Park covers about 1,700 wooded acres around a 93-acre lake, with boating, fishing, camping, hiking, equestrian and mountain-bike trails, hunting, and winter access. The park's hollow once carried the stage route between Galena and Beardstown, and the area also has a long history of small coal mines, clay, and limestone work. West Prairie Community Unit School District 103 keeps South Elementary and the middle school in Colchester. Highway, park, school, and old mineral country give the city a clear western Illinois shape.