Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.
“The Bethalto Village Hall is the former center of government of Bethalto, Illinois. Built in 1873, the building is the oldest remaining city hall building in Madison County.”
Wikipedia article Bethalto Village Hall, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 40 National Register listings published here for Madison County · listed in 1987 · category: Building.
Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
The chapter on Wood River Township in Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People, 1812 to 1912, published 1912 names Bethalto. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
The principal industry of Bethalto for many years was milling. It is surrounded by a rich agricultural country which marketed its grain in that village. The President Mill and Ele¬ vator was established in 1859 by James Neimrich. The capacity of the mill was 100 bar- rels of flour per day. It was rebuilt and en¬ larged in 1877, by Meyer & Guye, with a capa¬ city of 500 barrels per day. In 1881 it was purchased by John W. Kaufman who in¬ creased its capacity to 600 barrels. After a prosperous career it was destroyed by fire in March, 1896. As it employed a large force of hands its destruction was a great disaster to the village. The effect was shown by the shrinkage in population. In 1890 the vil¬ lage had a population of 879; in 1900 it was 477, and in 1910, 447. After the President mill burned John Weidmer, who owned it at that time, did not rebuild it but started in the grain business, as his elevator had been saved. Shortly after Jacob and John Kauffman bought him out and operated the elevator un¬ der the name of the Kauffman Milling Com¬ pany. The Farmers' Elevator Company was formed next. This company bought out the Kauffmans but later sold out to B. C. Munday, in June, 1911, who now owns the eleva¬ tor.
Passage source: Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People, 1812 to 1912, published 1912.
Another mill, the Bethalto Custom and Merchants Mill, was established by J. E. Ewan, in 1872. C. H. Flick was at one time a partner, the firm being Ewan & Flick. Mr. Ewan died in 1906. The mill was then pur¬ chased by Tobias Brothers who still conduct it. Bethalto has several stores and minor in¬ dustries, including coal mining, and a bank with a capital of $25,000. It was founded by B. C. Munday in 1903 and later reorganized as a State bank. The officers are : B. C. Mun¬ day, president; George Richards, vice pres¬ ident; Ed. Starkey, cashier, and Herb Starkey, assistant cashier.
Passage source: Centennial History of Madison County, Illinois, and Its People, 1812 to 1912, published 1912.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Wood River Township - 6,541 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Bethalto Village Hall in 2008, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 January 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Illinois Division of Forestry Resources | RUPPERT |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Bethalto Village Hall: 1 plant, 1 past producer, 1 producer. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sulfur, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Facility) Shell Oil Wood River Refinery | Sulfur | Plant | ||
| Alton Mine | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Wood City Pit | Stone | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bethalto, the town this property stands in, in 16 storm reports between 1998 and 2018: 9 thunderstorm wind, 7 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | Thunderstorm winds blew down a large tree onto a house in Bethalto causing moderate damage. |
| May 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | Storm spotters reported power lines down. |
| June 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | Storm spotters reported 1 inch hail, 1 large tree, and some large tree limbs down in Bethalto. |
| April 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | Large tree limbs and power lines were downed by thunderstorm wind gusts. |
| July 2006 | Hail | Bethalto | - | A swath of large hail to the size of quarters fell from 7.5 miles northeast of Bethalto southward towards the intersection of Illinois Routes 159 and 140. Several hundred acres of corn were damaged along and west of Illinois Route 159. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | Thunderstorm wind gusts caused scattered damage across the Bethalto area. Trees and large limbs were downed across town many of which fell on vehicles causing damage. At least one garage was heavily damaged by a downed tree. Downed electric lines knocked out power to about 1000 people. |
| May 2018 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| June 2007 | Hail | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bethalto | - | no account filed |
No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.
Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Upper Alton Historic District | 5.5 miles | 1978 |
 | Salem Baptist Church | 5.9 miles | 2013 |
 | Yakel House and Union Brewery | 6.7 miles | 1982 |
 | Alton National Cemetery | 6.7 miles | 2011 |
 | Haskell Playhouse | 7.3 miles | 1974 |
 | Lyman Trumbull House | 7.3 miles | 1975 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 87002049 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Madison County | All 40 listed properties in this county. |
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