Ridgway, IL

Ridgway is a village in Ridgway and North Fork Townships, Gallatin County, Illinois, United States. The 2020 census counted 851 residents. Ridgway was established in 1866 as a construction camp along what would become the Springfield and Illinois South Eastern Railway. Ridgway was named for the railroad's president, Thomas S. A newcomer can read Ridgway through the overlap of its older landmarks, surrounding geography, and current places. For a newcomer, Ridgway comes into focus through those concrete links among its past, landscape, and current routines. Ridgway is located in southern Illinois north of the Shawnee National Forest. Ridgway is in north-central Gallatin County, 9 miles northwest of Shawneetown, the county seat. Ridgway is home to a popcorn plant, is the former self-proclaimed "Popcorn Capital of the World".