EAGARVILLE
Village of Eagarville Illinois- Macoupin County, Illinois, - State of Illinois- USA
Named For James Eagar, born about 1842 in Cary, Ireland. He married Marguerite Danahee in 1865 in London, England. He died on April 12, 1919 in Litchfield, Illinois at the hospital.
The first school was built in 1900. It consisted of two rooms. The village hall and post office are the buildings which composed the school. The school was sold in 1920 when a new school was built. This school consisting of four rooms was sold in 1951.
Eagarville has never had an established church. However, Sunday school classes were conducted in the school building from early 1900 until 1947 by Miss Day and Mrs. Jennie Thero.
The village was incorporated on November 16th. 1915. The village has had five mayors up to present day. Mr. Joseph Frew, the first mayor served for 20 years. Trustees of the first village board were: John Frew, Martin Hughes, Victor Prevedell and Gillespie Residents John Ranger, Frank Giardhini and Frank Dana.
In 1902, Superior Coal Company began opening coal mines in the area. Superior Coal Company was owned by the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company which had three of the largest coal mines in the world for the first half of the Twentieth Century. The coal mine in Eagarville was sunk during 1901 and was commonly known as “Number 1”. The mine officially opened in August 1903 and closed in 1951.
The depth of the mine was between 320 and 348 feet and an average coal seam thickness of 6’1/2 feet to 9 feet. Production of coal from this mine was officially reported from 1904 through May, 1951. The legal description lists the mine as Township 8 North, Range 6 West, Section 29, 1100 FSL, 1200 FEL, NW, Cahokia Township which encompasses the area under Gillespie and East under Eagarville.
Eagarville’s population in 1980 was listed as 148 and in 1990 as 127
Drowning accident, Superior Coal Mine Number 1 in Macoupin County, on May 8, 1942.
Four men were drowned in Superior Coal Company’s Mine Number 1 in Eagarville, Illinois, resulting from a machine they were using to cut into an old abandoned mine adjacent to a new project. This allowed Methane gas and water to rush into the area. This water and Methane gas is believed to have come from the adjacent Dorsey mine which has not been in operation for about 55 years. The four fatalities occurred when two of the men escaped but then returned to give aid to the other two that were trapped.
