Bethalto, Illinois

The Village of Bethalto, Illinois is located in Madison County in the northwest quadrant of the county. The important thoroughfares to the Village are Highway 140, Highway 111, Erwin Plegge Blvd, Prairie Street, Moreland Road, West Corbin and others.

Bethalto - St. Louis Regional Airport

The St. Louis Regional Airport is located in Bethalto Illinois and serves businesses, the US Military and recreational aviators from around the region. This regional airport opened in 1946 called the Civic Memorial Airport in honor of the American WWII War Veterans and featured one small sod runway. Today, St Louis Regional Airport is the fourth largest airport in Illinois.

Bethalto Parks and Recreation

The Village of Bethalto has several city parks and an arboretum. The Bethalto Municipal Park features the Town & Country swimming pool, the Over The Top Skate Park, athletic fields, lighted tennis courts and an amphitheater. The annual Bethalto Homecoming is held in the Municipal Park. The Culp Lane Park features a fishing lake, a playground and picnic sites. The Bethalto Sports Complex features softball, soccer and baseball fields with grand stand seating and a concession stand. The Bethalto Arboretum was developed on land that was once part of the railroad and the park is built around a short stretch of original railroad in memory of its history in Bethalto. The Arboretum contains many trees from around the world and many are planted in memory of residents of the Village of Bethalto.

Bethalto Schools

Public schools that serve the residents of Bethalto are in the Bethalto Community Unit School District #8. The district has one high school, 1 middle school, 2 intermediate schools, and 2 primary school. The district's high school is the Civic Memorial High School. Two private schools are located in the city as well, Zion Lutheran School and Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic School, both with grades preschool to 8th grade.

Bethalto History

The Village of Bethalto had its beginning in the early 19th century when German and Dutch settlers came to the area to farm where the soil was found to be good for growing grain. Later, large outcroppings of coal were discovered and coal mining became a major industry for the area. In the mid 1850s, the Alton-Terre Haute Railroad came through Bethalto and followed the same route that Erwin Plegge Blvd follows today. The railroad caused the population of the village of Bethalto to greatly increase as the village was built up around it. Eventually flour and coal from Bethalto were being transported to St Louis by rail, and then to other parts of the Midwest by steamboat on the Mississippi River. Bethalto was at one time home to the largest flour mill in Illinois and became one of the most important flour milling towns in the United States. By the early 1900s, all the coal was gone in the mines and they were closed and today corn and soybeans have replace flour milling.

Bethalto Attractions

The Bethalto Historical Museum is located in the old Village Hall that was built in 1874 and is listed on the National Historic Register. An old Log Cabin that was relocated to next to the Historical Museum was discovered totally enclosed by a home and thus wonderfully preserved when work was being done to that home to repair damage from a fire.

Bethalto, Illinois Address and Phone Numbers

Bethalto Illinois Village Hall
213 North Prairie Street
Bethalto, IL 62010
618-377-8051

Bethalto Illinois Related Links:

Bethalto Illinois Website

St Louis Missouri Real Estate For Sale