” Staunton, IL USDA Loan”

Staunton is the second largest city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,054.

A settler named Stanton bought land in the area and donated the land to a nearby village. The village decided to name the town Stanton after the original settler. An application for the town’s incorporation was sent to Washington DC where it was approved but misspelled as Staunton due to the name being similar to Staunton, Virginia.[citation needed]

In 1817, John Wood became the first colonial settler to settle in what is now downtown Staunton. The town slowly grew and by the town’s incorporation in 1859, had a schoolhouse, general store, a doctor’s office and a mill. Staunton grew with the introduction of the railroad and a coal mine in the 1860s. New immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Italy moved to Staunton, and the community soon became one of the largest cities in southern Illinois. The Staunton Star-Times started publication in 1878. In 1891, Staunton applied for city status and elected its first mayor, F. E. Godfrey.

Coal mining characterized the city for nearly a century. Henry Voge opened the first coal mine in 1869 (“The Gin Shaft”). Two large mounds of slag that rise from prairie farmland on the outskirts of Staunton tell much about the history and the present status of the small city. The size of the piles indicates many years of deep shaft coal production, while the weeded erosions indicate the tipples have been idle for years. Mining started here shortly before the Civil War. It ended shortly before World War II. When the shafts were operating, they provided most of the employment in the town. Note: although it has been said that coal mining had started in Staunton before the Civil War era, I found no indication of that in any other source. All of these indicate that coal mining first started in Staunton in 1869.[citation needed]

Staunton Local 755 became the largest coal miners’ union in the state. The Labor Temple was built in 1914 by the local union. The front doors of this fine structure opened onto an attractive lobby with a wide stairway to the second floor on the right and a ticket office centered between two entrances to a large auditorium which had a sloping floor, aisles between three sections of comfortable seats and in front a large, well-arranged stage. This auditorium had the first air conditioning system to be found anywhere within thirty-five miles of Staunton. From Tuesday through Sunday it was a theatre showing first-run movies for many years. The musical film Don’t Give Up the Ship gave inspiration to local high school students in writing the Staunton High School fight song Don’t Give Up the Fight. The first Monday of each month the Miners Union held their meeting there. The other Mondays could be booked for graduations, dramatic or musical productions by local groups, speakers, etc. Upstairs were toilet facilities, several small conference or committee meeting rooms, and a large hall where lodges met and dances and receptions could be held.[citation needed]