South Roxana

History

South Roxana grew up in the 1920s as a residential settlement immediately south of Roxana, the company village that had developed around the Shell Oil refinery now known as the Wood River Refinery. The tract was laid out about 1920 by a St. Louis development group, the Gonterman interests, which subdivided former farmland into building lots; within a few years dozens of houses had been built, many of them occupied by refinery workers. Residents discussed forming a village as early as the 1920s, but the question was set aside for decades, and incorporation referendums were defeated more than once before voters approved village status in March 1967. Lawrence Cunningham became the village's first mayor.

Geography

South Roxana is bordered to the north and east by the village of Roxana, to the south by a western extension of the city of Edwardsville, and to the west by the village of Hartford. Illinois Route 111 runs along the western edge of South Roxana, leading north to Wood River and south to Pontoon Beach. Downtown St. Louis is to the south-southwest. Illinois Route 255, a four-lane expressway, passes just east of the village limits, with access from Exits 3 and 5. Route 255 leads south to Interstates 255 and 270 and north to Bethalto. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, South Roxana has a total area of , of which , or 4.51%, are water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  16,247
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  14,675
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14,054
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  13,435
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  12,117
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  11,880
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  11,131
• Great Blue/Cocoi Heron

  Ardea herodias Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10,794

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2026-01-20
  4 km NW of Ohlman, Illinois
• M 2.57 — 2024-09-19
  1 km S of Old Monroe, Missouri
• M 2.81 — 2024-03-28
  1 km NNE of Germantown, Illinois
• M 2.84 — 2022-04-29
  1 km SSW of Peerless Park, Missouri
• M 3.12 — 2017-07-01
  9 km SSE of Mulberry Grove, Illinois
• M 2.65 — 2015-09-05
  5 km SE of High Ridge, Missouri