Granville, IL

Granville is Putnam County’s largest community, a village that grew from a farming center into the commercial place nearby coal mines helped support. The St. Paul Mine opened near Granville in 1903, followed by the Berry Mine near Standard in 1905, tying the local map to the coal fields for a time. The village seal gives its civic date as January 1, 1881, and Granville Community Unit School District 535 remains part of the town’s everyday identity. Putnam County historical work still keeps the mining record in view. Granville is small-town Illinois with a county setting, a coal chapter, and a school district in the middle of the local map.