Hamel, IL

Hamel is a Madison County village that grew from a crossroads store, a German immigrant settlement, and a railroad stop. Frederick Wolf opened Hamel's Corner in 1865 at the Edwardsville–Staunton and Alton–Greenville roads, and the Wabash line reached the township in the 1870s. German settlers had already established a Lutheran church in 1861, giving the crossroads a cultural thread that remains part of Hamel's local story. Route 140 and Interstate 55 now carry the traffic, while the village still sits about thirty miles northeast of St. Louis in the Metro East. Hamel is a small Illinois village built from road, rail, farm, and church.