Bunker Hill

History

The original inhabitants of the Bunker Hill area were the Peoria people, Kickapoo people, and Winnebago people. They were forcibly removed from the area by the United States government around 1830. As Euro-Americans arrived in Macoupin County, the site of the future Bunker Hill was settled in 1830. At that time, the area was known as "Wolf Ridge", due to the presence of wolves in the vicinity. The first settler was Elijah Lincoln in 1830, who established a land claim one and a half miles southwest of present Bunker Hill. Shortly after he made his claim, Lincoln and a Mr. Tuttle laid out a town, named "Lincoln" after the first settler. The earliest post office in the area was established in 1833 a mile south of Lincoln. A school house was built around 1831, and was also used as the meeting hall for the Baptist denomination. The first church in the area was built by the Baptists. The second was the Congregational church in nearby Woodburn. In 1834, County Surveyor Luke Knowlton entered of land that now cover the center of Bunker Hill. On December 25, 1835, Moses True of Salisbury, New Hampshire, John Tilden of Boston, Massachusetts, and Robert Smith of Alton, Illinois, visited Lincoln and formed a company to plat a town and improve the surrounding countryside. By 1836, the settlement of Lincoln had been abandoned, prompting Moses and company to establish a new town, which became Bunker Hill in 1837. At 6:45am CST on March 19, 1948, a tornado that originated in Alton, Illinois, blew through Bunker Hill, destroying the majority of the town's buildings and killing 19 people. Although the tornado was only in town for less than a minute, the destruction was devastating. The downtown business district lost many of its buildings. The streets were impassable due to rubble…

Geography

Bunker Hill is located in southern Macoupin County in the eastern part of Bunker Hill Township. Carlinville, the Macoupin county seat, is to the north, Alton on the Mississippi River is to the southwest, and downtown St. Louis is to the south-southwest. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Bunker Hill has a total area of , of which are land and , or 1.91%, are water. The city sits on a ridge that drains east to Paddock Creek and west to Indian Creek. Both creeks are south-flowing tributaries of Cahokia Creek, which runs to the Mississippi River northeast of St. Louis.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,530
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,301
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,229
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,217
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,176
• Tufted Titmouse

  Baeolophus bicolor (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,143
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  2,072
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,045