Thebes, IL

Thebes is a village in Thebes Precinct, Alexander County, Illinois, United States. The 2020 census counted 208 residents. Thebes is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1860 the county seat was moved to Cairo, at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. That mix gives Thebes a clear local shape within Illinois, with older layers still visible in current places. The local scoop is a place whose streets, landmarks, and institutions keep its earlier story close to the present. Thebes was established in 1835 and platted on March 2, 1846. At first it was known as Sparhawk Landing.