St. Louis, MO–IL MSA
62-708: Other Statistical Areas in the St. Louis CSA The Metro East is an urban area in Southern Illinois , United States that contains the eastern and northern urban, suburban, and exurban areas on the Mississippi River in Greater St Louis . It encompasses eight Illinois counties and constitutes the second-most populous metropolitan area in Illinois . A historically significant region,
124-718: A Metro East location was not credited within the database, but was clearly shot on Metro East soil upon watching the film itself. Laurell K. Hamilton has used the Metro East as a setting in several books from the Anita Blake and Merry Gentry series. In the Merry Gentry series, fairies of the Unseelie Court have made their home in Monk's Mound . Robert J. Randisi set one of his Joe Keough mysteries, East of
186-483: A hostile crowd. The audience understood Douglas: overwhelming proslavery sentiment and Democratic unanimity in Egypt had led to the nickname. In the fall of 1861, Democrats took a majority of seats in the state legislature. They worked to pass provisions of a new constitution, an initiative begun in 1860. They proposed reapportionment so the southern region's less populous counties would have representation equal to those in
248-587: A ½ cent sales tax which would have made Madison County next on the list of planned St. Louis MetroLink lines after the 3rd phase of the MetroLink's St. Clair County Extension was complete. This phase would extend the line 5.3 miles east from its current terminus at the Shiloh-Scott Station to MidAmerica Airport . Originally, this was part of the second phase's plan, but its own phase was later created due to low ridership projections, as of 2021
310-452: Is Belleville at 44,478. Other principal cities include Alton , Centralia , Collinsville , Edwardsville , Glen Carbon , Godfrey , Granite City , O'Fallon , Harrisburg , Herrin , West Frankfort , Mt. Vernon , Marion , and Carbondale , where the main campus of Southern Illinois University is located. Residents may also commute to St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri ; Evansville, Indiana ; and Paducah, Kentucky . The region
372-521: Is home to Scott Air Force Base , a major military installation. The area has a population of 1.2 million people, who live mostly in rural towns and cities separated by extensive farmland and the Shawnee National Forest . The two higher density areas of population are Metro East (pop. 700,000+), which is the partly industrialized Illinois portion of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area , and
434-690: Is located in Illinois approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of St. Louis . It was created in 1980 by the Madison County Board to improve transportation in Madison County, and is a completely separate transit system from the St. Louis Metro Transit system which includes MetroLink , which doesn't operate into Madison County, though the buses connect with many MetroBus routes and even serve MetroLink stations in East St. Louis , Belleville and Downtown St. Louis . In 2023,
496-487: Is water. As of the 2020 census, the most populated cities in the region included the following Principal cities City populations As of the 2010 census, there had been a major shift in population from the older rust belt industrial cities in the Mississippi River bottom, such as East St. Louis and Alton, to the more suburban satellite cities , such as, Belleville, Edwardsville, and O'Fallon sitting on
558-497: The 15th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry . Far more served in the ranks of U.S. regiments like the 31st Illinois Volunteer Infantry (commanded by famed Southern Illinoisan John A. Logan ) or 111th Illinois Volunteer Infantry , both of which were composed exclusively of Southern Illinoisans. Ulysses S. Grant was commander of the District of Cairo when U.S. forces staged expeditions into the border states of Missouri and Kentucky, and
620-558: The Bi-State Development Agency about the future Mass Transit in Greater St. Louis. There is a possibly to expand bus rapid transit and light rail routes to Granite City and Edwardsville . In 2005 a study was conducted by East-West Gateway Council of Governments to examine the possibilities of extending a light rail into Madison County showed positive results. In 1997, voters in Madison County rejected
682-652: The Confederate states of Tennessee and Mississippi. Despite the Southern roots of many Southern Illinoisans, 40% of eligible Southern Illinois men joined the Union Army, compared to 28% in the rest of the state. Coal mining became an important industry in Southern Illinois around the start of the 20th century, with cities such as Harrisburg prospering, having a population of 16,000 people during
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#1732772062474744-543: The Fairmont City area, and in parts of Clinton County. The largest concentration of African-Americans is in Madison , Venice , western Granite City , East St. Louis , Washington Park , Belleville , Cahokia , Alorton and Alton . Notes: Public transit service in St. Clair County is provided by Metro Transit in partnership with the St. Clair County Transit District . Service includes local bus lines and
806-652: The Knights of the Golden Circle , which proposed a southern pan-Caribbean confederation of slaveholding states and nations. The outbreak of the American Civil War exacerbated sectional tensions in the region. While the vast majority of Southern Illinoisans who served did so as U.S. volunteers, 34 men from the counties of Williamson and Jackson traveled to western Tennessee to enlist within Company G of
868-711: The MetroLink light rail system. MetroLink has 11 stations in Illinois between the East St. Louis Riverfront and Scott Air Force Base. It links the suburban Metro East to St. Louis Lambert International Airport on the Red Line and Shrewsbury, Missouri on the Blue Line . Intermediate stops include downtown St. Louis, area universities and hospitals, and downtown Clayton. In 2019, the St. Clair County Transit District
930-574: The Mississippi River . This area also contains the ending point of the Kaskaskia River near the Fort Kaskaskia State Historic Site . Rend Lake is located in this area. Counties Principal cities City populations Madison County Transit Madison County Transit , or MCT for short, is a bus and bike trail transportation system that serves the citizens of Madison County , which
992-551: The Wabash River , East-Central Southern Illinois is noted by the town of Salem , the birthplace of William Jennings Bryan , the G. I. Bill of Rights and Miracle Whip salad dressing. Counties Principal cities City populations Chester , in West-Central Southern Illinois is noted as the "Home of Popeye ". Kaskaskia , the first state capital of Illinois is located near
1054-463: The " Land of Goshen ". Early Edwardsville was known as Goshen. This was a biblical reference to Ancient Egypt . Geographic features such as the Mississippi and its flood plains were like the fertile Nile valley . The Indian mounds of the area were large at the time and seemed like the pyramids of Egypt . The nickname stuck, and it was reinforced by other events. In the 1830s, poor harvests in
1116-676: The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago brought notoriety to the name, but she had no connection to the Illinois region. Other dancers took up the stage name which popularized it further in the early 20th century. One of the earliest uses of the phrase "Little Egypt" is found in the Troy Weekly Call of Troy, Illinois, in 1912. A state news brief was headlined, "Two New Little Egypt Pastors." about two new Presbyterian pastors about to be installed at Brookport and Salem , Illinois. The Chicago Tribune appears to have first used
1178-699: The 1920s. Union miners all over the nation went on strike in 1922; during this period, 24 men were killed during a riot in Herrin , in Williamson County. It was called the Herrin Massacre , and the county was known as Bloody Williamson for years to come. The Shelton Brothers Gang and Charles Birger gangs operated in Southern Illinois in the 1920s during Prohibition . Shoot-outs between these and other rival gangsters and with law enforcement officers were common. After being convicted of ordering
1240-462: The Arch (2002), in the Metro East communities of East St. Louis and Fairview Heights. The 2010 issue of Family Circle magazine named Edwardsville third in their "Top 10 Best Towns for Families". 38°40′N 90°0′W / 38.667°N 90.000°W / 38.667; -90.000 Southern Illinois Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising
1302-661: The Carbondale–Marion–Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area, centered on Carbondale and Marion , a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents. The first European settlers were French colonists in the part of their North American territory called Illinois Country . Later settlers migrated from the Upland South of the United States, traveling by the Ohio River. The region was affiliated with
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#17327720624741364-675: The French ports on the lower Mississippi River. Other important early outposts in Southern Illinois were at Old Shawneetown and Fort Massac on the Ohio River. After defeating the French in the French and Indian War (Seven Years' War) and signing the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the English ruled the Great Lakes region. At the time, many French settlers moved from towns on the eastern side of
1426-831: The Mississippi River, establishing outposts and seeking a route to the Pacific Ocean and the Far East. As increasing Indian unrest and warfare began in Northern Illinois over the lucrative fur trade along the Great Lakes , the French concentrated on building outposts in Southern Illinois. The earliest European settlers were concentrated along the Mississippi , Ohio , and Wabash rivers, which provided easy routes for travel and trade. The settlements including Cahokia town, Kaskaskia and Chartres became important market villages and supply depots between Canada and
1488-669: The Mississippi to the western side, which was ruled by Spain after the war. It took over all the Louisiana Territory west of the river. During the American Revolutionary War , the Southern Illinois area was the scene of the best known campaign in what was then the American west, when Virginians sought to occupy it against the British. European-American settlers were slow to arrive in Illinois after
1550-469: The Southern Illinois region lost markets and the economy suffered. However, demand for high-sulfur coal mined in the region has rebounded in the 2010s. Agriculture has since become the main economic driver for the Southern Illinois region. Southern Illinois is gaining a cultural identity apart from its neighbors, as previously-dispersed rural populations become more concentrated around the cities of Marion and Belleville . Marion has grown since 1970 and in
1612-408: The U.S. Senate against incumbent Stephen A. Douglas . A series of debates were held in seven towns in Illinois, including Jonesboro and Alton . Many of the people living in Southern Illinois were first- or second-generation white Southerners. Many of these families had left the slave South to escape the economic institution of slavery despite retaining its racial ideologies. Cairo, Illinois , at
1674-617: The United States victory in the American Revolutionary War . By 1800, fewer than 2,000 European Americans lived in Illinois. Soon more settlers came from the backwoods areas of Kentucky , Tennessee , Virginia , Georgia , and the Carolinas . They were mostly of English, German , and Scots-Irish descent. In 1787, the federal government included Illinois in the Northwest Territory , an unorganized area that included present-day Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Slavery
1736-455: The area along and south of Interstate 70 as the dividing line between the Central and Southern parts of the state. The geography of Illinois becomes gradually hillier as one travels farther South. One can see this driving south along Interstate 57 . The Mattoon / Charleston area is fairly flat. Terrain becomes noticeably less flat as one gets to Effingham . Around and south of Effingham on
1798-474: The area included the mound building native culture of Cahokia , and the later French settlements of the Illinois Country . It also includes the fertile lands of the riparian American Bottom . The region has almost 700,000 residents and its most populated city is Belleville , with 42,404 residents. The area hosts several colleges and universities, with Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville as
1860-570: The bases of bluffs, pottery, flint implements, and weapons. Structures built by them include stone forts or "pounds". Visitors can see a stone fort in Giant City State Park near Makanda . At least eight other such structures are known in the region. In about 1673, French explorers from Quebec became the first Europeans to reach Illinois. The French named the area Illinois after the Indians who had greeted them. The French explored
1922-411: The bluffs. This is mainly due to continued white flight . As of the census of 2000, there were 599,845 people, 229,888 households, and 160,260 families residing in the eight Metro East counties. The most common language is English, although various other languages are spoken. German speakers exist in southeastern Madison, and Clinton, and southern and eastern St. Clair Counties. Spanish is spoken in
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1984-479: The boundaries of present-day Collinsville, Illinois, was the major regional center of this culture. It contains the largest prehistoric earthworks in the Americas, and has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site . The mound builders' culture seems to have collapsed between AD 1400–1500. The Mississippians had abandoned Cahokia long before the first European explorers arrived. The Illinois tribes, for whom
2046-694: The center of the Knights of the Golden Circle , a secret group devoted to supporting the Confederacy. With concern rising about armed southern sympathizers, in August 1862, U.S. Marshal David Phillips arrested several Democrats who allegedly belonged to the Knights, including men in respectable positions: Congressmen, state representatives, and judges. One was Circuit Judge Andrew Duff. They were sent to Washington, D.C., where they were held for 68 days before release, but they were never charged. Democrats won across
2108-477: The contemporary national pride in the new republic of the early 19th century, and were given to towns throughout the Midwest.) Although Illinois was a free state before the American Civil War , some residents in the area known as Egypt still owned slaves. Illinois law generally forbade bringing slaves into Illinois, but a special exemption was given to the salt works near Equality . In addition, an exception
2170-835: The county, and shuttle bus service, as well as a paratransit bus service known as ACT (Agency for Community Transit) or Runabout . In 2008, MCT gave out Summer Break Youth Bus Passes to over 22,000 students ages 12–18. Illinois Public Act 095-0708 became effective in February 2008, allowing all elderly / disabled people to ride bus service for free. All buses are equipped with bike racks , wheelchair lifts , handicapped seats, and security cameras. Buses can lower to ground level, giving easier access to elderly/disabled people. Madison County Transit has five bus stations where each branch of service converge. The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response. The MCT Trails System
2232-598: The events to the Bible story of Jacob 's sons going to Egypt for grain to survive a famine. The nickname persisted through the 1890s, when, according to progressive journalist and Toledo mayor Brand Whitlock , members of the Illinois General Assembly whose districts lay south of the O&;M Railway were called "Egyptians." Belly dancer Farida Mazar Spyropoulos ' appearance as "Little Egypt" at
2294-547: The interstate, one sees more trees and terrain that is too hilly for most large farms. The most populous region of Southern Illinois is the Illinois side of the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area . Noted areas are Cahokia Mounds , the American Bottom , and East St. Louis , which has had a turbulent history related to industrialization and labor, immigration and the struggle for equal rights. Counties Principal cities City populations Located on
2356-426: The largest. Also located in Metro East is Scott Air Force Base . The Metro East is a loose collection of small and mid-sized cities sitting along the American Bottom and the bluffs of the Mississippi River . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the eight counties of the region have a total area of 6,974 km (2,692 mi). 6,787 km (2,620 mi) of it is land and 186 km (71 mi) of it (2.74%)
2418-716: The murder of the mayor of West City , the leader of the Birger gang, Charlie Birger, was hanged in 1928. In 1925 the Tri-State Tornado was the deadliest on record, devastating the city of Murphysboro and killing 234 people, the most in a single city in U.S. history . The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused coal miners to lose their jobs as most mines closed. Farmers could not sell their crops and lost their land; families defaulted on home mortgage loans; and young people from
2480-424: The north of the state drove people to Southern Illinois to buy grain. Others say it was because the land of the great Mississippi and Ohio River valleys were like that of Egypt's Nile Delta . According to Hubbs, the nickname dates back to 1818, when a huge tract of land was purchased at the confluence of the rivers and its developers named it Cairo / ˈ k ɛər oʊ / . Today, the town of Cairo still stands on
2542-641: The north, which was growing more rapidly. Northern Illinois residents worried about the state coming under the political will of the southern minority. "Shall the manufacturing, agricultural and commercial interests of northern Illinois be put into Egyptian bondage?" wondered the Aurora Beacon ." When Lincoln commissioned the Southern Illinois Democrat, John Alexander McClernand , as a brigadier general, he told him to "keep Egypt right side up". In addition, southern Illinois had become
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2604-409: The peninsula where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi. Other settlements in the area were also given names with Egyptian, Greek, or Middle Eastern origins: The Southern Illinois University Salukis sports teams and towns such as Metropolis , Thebes , Dongola , Palestine , Lebanon , New Athens , Sparta , and Karnak show the influence of classical culture. (Greek names were also related to
2666-463: The phrase "Little Egypt" in reference to Southern Illinois on April 25, 1920 in an article about fruit grown in the region. The title character in the comic strip " Moon Mullins " had a girlfriend named Little Egypt. The strip's creator Frank Willard, was a native of Anna and Southern Illinois. "Southern Illinois" is not a formal geographic designation and definitions of what constitutes Southern Illinois vary. Many Southern Illinois residents consider
2728-559: The process has been selected for Illinois' first STAR Bonds District for the Millennium Development, a project designed for a city ten times its size. Populations among the smaller cities and towns have dropped as people moved to the Carbondale-Herrin-Marion combined statistical area and Metro East . In 1799, Baptist minister John Badgley dubbed the fertile highlands and bottoms near Edwardsville
2790-491: The production of agricultural surpluses resulted in the development of complex, hierarchical societies. With the rise of the Mississippian culture in the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys, tribal leaders organized thousands of workers to build complex urban areas featuring numerous large earthworks – pyramidal, ridgetop and conical mounds used for religious, political and ceremonial purposes. Cahokia , located within
2852-463: The region began leaving for the cities to find work. After World War II, employment started to rise within the region, but unemployment continued to be a problem for the rural region for decades afterward. When the Clean Air Act of 1990 required many utility companies in the United States to switch to low-sulfur coal for the health of the nation, lacking affordable technology to clean the coal,
2914-805: The southern agricultural economy, based on enslaved African Americans as workers on major plantations, and rural culture. Some settlers owned slaves before the territory was organized and slavery was prohibited. Many areas developed an economy based on coal mining . Although part of the Midwest , certain areas of Southern Illinois more closely align culturally with neighboring parts of the Upland South (i.e. Kentucky , Tennessee , Southern Indiana , and Missouri ). The people speak with similar southern accents throughout this area. The earliest inhabitants of Illinois are thought to have arrived about 12,000 BC. They were indigenous hunter-gatherers , but they also developed their own system of agriculture. After AD 1000,
2976-600: The southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70 . Part of downstate Illinois , it is bordered by the two most voluminous rivers in the United States : the Mississippi below its connection with the Missouri River to the west and the Ohio River to the east and south, with the tributary Wabash River , extending the southeastern border. Some areas of Southern Illinois are known historically as Little Egypt . Southern Illinois' most populated city
3038-482: The southern tip where the Ohio River joins the Mississippi, grew to considerable commercial importance. On either bank of the rivers were states which, despite remaining loyal to the national government throughout the secession crisis, had numerous residents who, for reasons predominately rooted in racial ideologies, were sympathetic to the Southern rebellion (1860–65). Some prominent Southern Illinoisans were active in
3100-499: The state in the fall election. After the war, other reasons were proposed for the nickname. Political divisions continued in the state. In the later 19th century, the central and southern agricultural areas joined the Populist Movement. Chicago and the industrial North aligned with similar areas and continued as predominantly Republican into the 20th century. In 1871 Judge Andrew Duff wrote an article in which he ignored
3162-550: The state is named, and other historic tribes migrated to Southern Illinois around AD 1500. Archaeologists say they were not descendants of the earlier inhabitants; they spoke an Algonquian language of Miami-Illini, shared in dialects among neighboring regional tribes. They had likely migrated from eastern areas, where Algonquian-language tribes emerged along the Atlantic Coast and waterways. The Illini left numerous artifacts, including burial sites, burned-out campfires along
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#17327720624743224-418: The story of Moses fleeing Egypt was certainly used as an analog to their own plight. Egypt was the land to escape, and central Illinois represented the biblical Canaan, with Egypt being a treacherous southern Illinois. The nicknames for this region also arose from the political tensions of the American Civil War period, as regions of the state allied differently with North and South. Because southern Illinois
3286-415: The system had an annual ridership of 1,586,800, or about 5,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. Madison County Transit operates a fleet of 94 buses on 28 routes, carries 3,200 riders daily, 80,000 monthly, and 980,000 riders annually as of 2021. It includes an express bus service from towns across Madison County to downtown St. Louis, cross county bus service for long-distance services within
3348-525: The war years and preceding political divisions. He claimed the name of Egypt related to Southern Illinois' role in supplying grain to northern and central Illinois following the "Winter of the Deep Snow" in 1830–31. Following a long winter and late spring, Upper Illinois lost much of its harvest in an early September frost . Southern Illinois's weather gave it good crops, so it could ship grain and corn north. The nickname supposedly arose from similarities of
3410-463: Was admitted as a free state in 1818. In late 1811 and early 1812, the New Madrid earthquakes struck the region as one of the largest successions of earthquakes , including the most intensive ever inferred (not recorded) in the contiguous United States . The first bank to be chartered in Illinois was located at Old Shawneetown in 1816. The first building used solely to house a bank in Illinois
3472-695: Was awarded $ 96 million in Illinois infrastructure funding to build a 5.2-mile (8.4 km) extension of the Red Line from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah . This extension will include two 2.6-mile (4.2 km) segments, a double-track and a single-track segment, along with a station at the airport. Construction on the extension began in 2023 with Metro expecting to begin operations in early 2026. Additionally, Madison County Transit operates local bus service in that county with routes that serve downtown St. Louis transit centers. See also: Radio stations in Illinois "Uncredited" means
3534-405: Was born in the early 1990s, to preserve rail corridors for future light rail possibilities and interim trail use. In addition to the bus service, MCT owns and maintains over 135 miles (217 km) of bike trails throughout Madison County. Madison County Transit is the only transit system in the country with an integrated bus and bikeway system. Madison County Transit is working together with
3596-588: Was built in 1840 in Old Shawneetown and was used until the 1920s. The Old Shawneetown State Bank has been restored as an historical site. Crops of cotton and tobacco were grown in the extreme southern region of Illinois. Cotton was grown mostly for the home weaver, but during the Civil War , cotton was also grown for export, as the regular supply of cotton from the South was not available. Enough tobacco
3658-408: Was grown to make it a profitable crop for export. Both crops have been succeeded by other agricultural commodities. A feud between families in Williamson County , called the Bloody Vendetta , lasted nearly ten years and took many lives. In all, 495 assaults with a deadly weapon were committed and 285 murders took place in Williamson County between 1839 and 1876. In 1858, Abraham Lincoln ran for
3720-528: Was made for slaveholders who held long-term indentured servants or descendants of slaves in the area before it achieved statehood. The Underground Railroad also operated in southern Illinois, moving nearly equally northward and southward with bounties available for returned slaves appealing to the residents there. Slaves were going to " Canaan ", the land of milk and honey, for which at first glance Egypt would be an easy mistake. Directions to Underground Railroad travelers were coded in Bible verses or songs, and
3782-407: Was prohibited in this area, but for some time, slaveholders already in the area were allowed to keep their chattel property. As the areas became more populated with European Americans, they could be admitted as states to the Union. Illinois became a part of the Indiana Territory in 1800. Illinois settlers wanted more control over their own affairs and Illinois became a separate territory in 1809. It
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#17327720624743844-523: Was settled by Southerners , they maintained a sympathy for many issues of their former home states. They supported the continuation of slavery and voted for Democrats at a time when the northern part of the state supported Republicans. The meaning is expressed in this description of the 1858 campaign of Douglas and Abraham Lincoln: In 1858, debating in northern Illinois, Douglas had threatened Lincoln by asserting that he would 'trot him down to Egypt' and there challenge him to repeat his antislavery views before
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