North City, IL

North City is a Franklin County village in western Illinois, bordered to the south by Christopher and set within the coal country of southern Illinois. Its name came from two nearby mines nicknamed New North and Old North. The village incorporated in 1915, and Illinois Route 148 now passes along its eastern side, linking North City with Valier, Sesser, and the communities farther south. The road and the mining names make the village's original map easy to read.

North City is also known as Coello. A post office using that name opened in 1918 after its first postmaster, Pete Coello, and both names remain part of the local vocabulary. Franklin County's broader history is deeply tied to coal mining, which helped build roads, schools, and public works across the county. North City is a small remnant of that era, with a village government dating to 1915, a postal name dating to 1918, and a highway carrying the place through the modern southern Illinois landscape.