Early History of Glen Carbon
Madison County ILGenWeb Coordinator - Beverly Bauser
In the beginning, Glen Carbon started out
as many different small areas – Peters Station to the west, Mont
Station to the east, and the original Goshen settlement.
In 1801, Colonel Samuel Judy received a military grant for 100
acres of land called Goshen Settlement near the base of the
bluffs in the American Bottoms, just north of Judy Creek.
Colonel Judy became one of the first permanent settlers of
Madison County. He built his residence a mile from the Peters
railroad station in 1807, made of brick made on the premises. It
still stood in 1912.
The Yanda Log Cabin
The Yanda Log Cabin is believed to have
been constructed by blacksmith William Yanda in 1853. William
Yanda and his wife, Anna Zeola Yanda, were immigrants from
Bohemia, Austria. They and their ten children lived in the
cabin. Their eldest son, Frank, became a blacksmith. After
moving to other towns to engage in his craft, he returned home
with his family and raised eleven children in the cabin. Frank
sold the cabin to his son, Frank Jr., who was one of the early
mayors of Glen Carbon. Eventually the village bought the lot
with the existing house which was constructed around the cabin.
After discovering the cabin underneath, renovation began in 1989
and concluded in 1992. The cabin now serves as an addition to
the Glen Carbon museum.
Coal Mining
After the Civil
War, coal mining became a serious industry in the area, and the
future Glen Carbon was located on top of vast coal reserves.
Seven veins of coal, ranging in depth from 90 to 400 feet, ran
beneath the surface. In 1891, the Madison Coal Corporation was
founded by three St. Louis businessmen – William E. Guy, James
L. Blair, and George O. Carpenter Jr. – who proposed to mine
coal and other minerals. William Guy served as President and was
a geologist and engineer. The Madison Coal Corporation operated
four coal mines in the area – three mines in Glen Carbon, and
one in Edwardsville. The company hired Anton Daenzer, a mining
expert out of Belleville. Daenzer was named District
Superintendent of the corporation and was in charge of all
company mines. A large, two-story Victorian home was built for
the Daenzer family on a bluff overlooking Glen Carbon, near the
company offices on Collinsville Avenue. The company office
building still stands on Collinsville Avenue at the bike trail,
however the superintendent’s home was razed many years ago.
Madison Coal Company’s philosophy was to create a “company
town,” which provided all the amenities necessary for workers.
The company owned and platted much of the land in the future
village and built rental houses for miners and donated lots for
churches, schools, and a firehouse/village hall. It provided
access to supplies through the Company Store. A large,
well-appointed park was provided by the company, and awards were
given to the miner with the best garden and yard. While many of
the houses in Old Town were built by the coal company, the most
notable were the nine saltbox houses which lined lower Main
Street. These houses were the same two-story, two family houses
built by the Press Brick Company’s “Brickyard Row” on Upper Main
Street. The “Blue Row,” located between School Street and
Collinsville Avenue, differed in that these houses did not have
brick porches and were all painted blue. Four of these houses
still stand today.
Mine No. 2 was the largest and most
productive mine of the four. It was situation north of the bike
trail, just east of Madison Avenue. Located on the Illinois
Central tracks, a large coal washer was constructed nearby for
the washing of the coal prior to loading onto the train cars. In
1934, the last mine in Glen Carb was closed permanently. In
1988, a project funded under “The Mine Land Reclamation Act”
obliterated nearly all traces of the mine.
In 1892, 76
residents petitioned the county court, and the village of Glen
Carbon was officially incorporated on June 6, 1892. The name
“Glen Carbon” means “valley of coal,” which reflects the
importance of the history of coal mining there.
The
Railroad
There were two depots for the railroad erected – one
running east and west, and the second running north and south.
Rail travel was important to the businesses and mining companies
and travelers. It was easy to board the Illinois Central and
Clover Leaf railroads, who made several trips a day to St. Louis
and back. The trains carried coal and other goods to various
locations.
St. Louis Brick Company
Another important industry in Glen
Carbon was the St. Louis Press Brick Company, which burned down
in the 1930s. After being rebuilt, it burned once again and was
never opened again. Bricks made in Glen Carbon were used in the
building of the 1904 World’s Fair buildings in Forest Park.