St. Clair County

Uncommon group of maps covering St. Clair County in southeastern Illinois.

This four-sheet overview of St. Clair County, Illinois was compiled by the Property Tax Division of the State’s Department of Revenue between 1942 and 1945, according to the printed table of revisions on each. Section two, the urban area around East St. Louis, shows dated manuscript annotations noting property updates through the early 1950s. Each map presents various elements of infrastructure of interest to a taxation division – school districts, property boundaries, primary transportation routes, and major corporations.

It is the last category that reflects (one part) of the unfortunate 20th-century story of St. Clair County. Just outside East St. Louis are several corporate enclaves – Monsanto, Alcoa, National City, etc. – organized exclusively to serve the commercial interests of their owners. These ‘company towns’ were exempt from most forms of environmental regulation, local taxation, and labor oversight; contributing to excessive levels of pollution, wealth disparity, and eventual urban decay.

Further Reading: St. Louis Magazine; The American Bottom – Company Towns;