HR0977 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0977 LRB104 22311 ECR 38750 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The vast resources of the Illinois Basin transformed the Village of Westville and many other towns in Illinois from small agricultural settlements into major industrial powerhouses; and

WHEREAS, Coal mining in Vermilion County began when coal mine developer William Kirkland and others began mining in the Grape Creek area around 1866; due to labor scarcity, Kirkland imported the first miners to the area, including a shipload of Belgian miners brought in to instruct the other early miners on how to start the slopes and how to mine coal profitably; and

WHEREAS, Westville's first post office was established in 1876, and coal mining began in the village when developers opened numerous coal mines around 1880, with the shaft of the first mine being sunk by the Himrod Coal Company in Himrod in 1895; the mine was later sold to Mike Kelly, who eventually owned at least five mines in the area and operated the village's first bank alongside John Dickerson; the village opened its first saloon in connection with a hotel in 1890, and at one point, it was reportedly home to more than 28 taverns; and

WHEREAS, The employment opportunity created by the mines caused many towns around Vermilion County to become a melting pot of immigrants, including people from Belgium, Lithuania, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Italy, and other countries; these immigrants struggled with the language barrier and often tried to settle near their own people, which was the case for the Belgian immigrants who settled north of Westville, resulting in the area becoming known as Belgiumtown; and

WHEREAS, In the early 1900s, Illinois was split between wet and dry townships in the years prior to Prohibition, leading the former Belgiumtown to officially be organized as the Village of Belgium in 1908, and it opted to serve as a wet township as nearby townships voted to become dry, thereby allowing taverns to operate; and

WHEREAS, The economic boom created by the mining industry led to the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad to run through Westville, leading to the construction of a now memorialized train depot in the village, with trains carrying many coal miners back and forth; and

WHEREAS, Westville created a memorial to its miners in 1968, honoring these individuals for making the community a melting pot of nations and proving that people of all nationalities can work and live together; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare June 9, 2026 as Ode to the Coal Miners Day in the State of Illinois to honor the contributions of coal miners in developing communities across our State, adding to our State's rich history; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we encourage citizens across Illinois to recognize coal miners and to learn more about how they contributed to the development of our great State.