Collinsville

In the early 1900s, Collinsville's Main Street was a busy scene of horse-drawn supply wagons, trolleys, bicycles, automobiles, and shoppers. Main Street formed part of the National Road, a 19th-century highway linking the East Coast to the Mississippi River and connecting Collinsville to river ports, county seats, and state capitals. In 1891, the city council approved a railway connecting Main Street to commercial districts in neighboring cities, and by 1900 streetcars on the Collinsville, Caseyville and East St. Louis Electric lines circulated between Madison and St. Clair counties. Collinsville's economy also grew through coal mining after Dr. Octavious Lumaghi sank Lumaghi Mine No. 1 in 1869, and more mines followed. With rail access and rich coal deposits, the city's industrial and commercial sectors flourished, and by 1922 coal miners and their families made up nearly a third of Collinsville's 9,800 residents. Main Street merchants prospered by supplying this growing population, and the street continues to serve as a corridor for art, commerce, and community.

Collinsville, Illinois · United States