Chester, Illinois

City: Chester

County: Randolph

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 37.9000, -89.8167

Located on the Mississippi River roughly midway between St. Louis, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, Chester became an important export point for agricultural products and provided supplies to steamboats. Chester became a town in 1835 and a city in 1855. After the Mississippi River flooded Kaskaskia in 1844, Chester became the county seat of Randolph County, first temporarily, then officially in 1848.

E. J. Montague, "The History of Randolph County, Illinois, including Old Kaskaskia Island," unpublished manuscript, 1859, 70-73; An Act concerning the Towns of Pittsfield and Chester; "An Act to Incorporate the City of Chester," 13 February 1855, Private Laws of Illinois (1855), 144-54.