Benld (pronounced ) is a city in Macoupin County,

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. The population was 1,464 at the 2020 census, down from 1,556 in

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. It is located in the

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portion of the

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metropolitan area. ''Benld'' was declared the "most difficult to pronounce" place name in the state of Illinois by ''

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''.

History

Benld was established in 1903. The name derives from founder Benjamin L. Dorsey (d. June 19, 1895), who was responsible for gaining the land on which the town was built and coal mining rights. "Benld" is the combination of Dorsey's first name and his middle and last initial. The village was home to St. Mary's Russian Orthodox church until 2010. Opened in 1901 by

Carpatho-Rusyn Rusyn ( ; ; )http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2781/1/2011BaptieMPhil-1.pdf , p. 8. is an East Slavic language spoken by Rusyns in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, and written in the Cyrillic script. The majority of speakers live in Carpathian Ruth ...

immigrants, Holy Dormition was converted to a Monastery in 2010. The church was founded to serve the immigrant mining community. On September 29, 1938, a

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

landed in Benld, marking only the third meteorite landing in Illinois since records were kept. It is one of the few known meteorites to strike a man-made object, punching a hole in the roof of Edward McCain's garage and embedding itself in the seat of his 1928

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

coupe. A neighbor, Mrs. Carl Crum, was standing about fifty feet from the impact and may be the individual who came closest to being struck by a meteorite in history up to that time. The meteorite and portions of the car are now on display at the

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. In March 2009, the seven-year-old Benld Elementary school was damaged beyond repair and ultimately condemned. The damage was caused by mine subsidence and left more than 700 students without a school. The students were moved to the Gillespie High School and Middle School campus, where they finished the remainder of the year on a split shift schedule. High school and middle school students attended school from 6:30am to noon, and elementary aged students attended from 12:30pm until 5:00 pm. The students started the 2010 school year on the split shift. On November 2, 2010, all students returned to a normal schedule, with the elementary children attending class in three different locations (modular units, middle school classrooms, and the S.S. Simon & Jude Catholic School). The district was allowed to collect only $350,000 in mine subsidence insurance due to limits imposed by the state of Illinois. The district is in line to receive funding from the Capital Development Board to help with the construction of a new elementary school. The school is responsible for 20% of the $22 million budget to build a new school. The school district is actively pursuing grants to fulfill their responsibility. The Ben-Gil Boosters, an organization formed to help raise funds for the construction of the new school, won $250,000 in April 2010 through Pepsi's Refresh Everything Campaign. The new school is adjacent to the district's middle school and high school in Gillespie. Its name has been changed to Ben-Gil Elementary School, to reflect both communities. At a special CUSD 7 Board of Education meeting on August 16, 2017, the board approved a $4 million settlement with the

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, legal owners of the assets of the former Superior Coal Company, in connection with the subsidence. Originally, the district had been awarded $9.85 million in 2014, but Union Pacific appealed that ruling.

Geography

Benld is located in southeastern Macoupin County in the southwest corner of Cahokia Township. It is bordered to the south by the village of Sawyerville and to the northwest by the village of Mount Clare.

Illinois Route 4 Illinois Route 4 is a major north–south highway that runs south from the Interstate 55 business loop around the state capital of Springfield, south to Illinois Route 13 just north of Murphysboro. This is a distance of . Route description I ...

runs along the western border of Benld, leading north to Gillespie and south to Staunton. Route 4 leads north to

Carlinville Carlinville is a city in and the county seat of Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 5,710. It is the home of Blackburn College (Illinois), Blackburn College, a small col ...

, the Macoupin

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Illinois Route 138 Illinois Route 138 is a state highway in southwestern Illinois. It runs from Illinois Route 159 north of Bunker Hill, Illinois, Bunker Hill to the city of Mount Olive, Illinois, Mount Olive at Illinois Street, a former alignment of ''U.S. Route ...

passes through the center of Benld as Central Street and South 8th Street, leading southeast to White City and

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

is southwest of Benld. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, Benld has a total area of , all land. A small unnamed runs through the center of Benld, flowing south to Cahokia Creek, a southwest-flowing direct tributary of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,541 people, 676 households, and 415 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 772 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.25%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.52%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.19% Native American, 0.45% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.97% of the population. There were 676 households, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,395, and the median income for a family was $36,953. Males had a median income of $30,054 versus $19,400 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,521. About 9.7% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 22.7% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* A. C. Bartulis (1927–2011), politician and businessman; born in Benld'Illinois Blue Book 1981-1982,' Biographical Sketch of A. C. "Junie" Bartulis, pg. 167

References

{{authority control Cities in Illinois Cities in Macoupin County, Illinois Populated places established in 1903 1903 establishments in Illinois Coal in Illinois Populated places in Southern Illinois Coal towns in Illinois Rusyn-American history Villages in Illinois Ethnic enclaves in Illinois Ukrainian communities in the United States Rusyn-American culture in Illinois

History

Geography

Demographics

Notable people

See also

References