History

Carbon Cliff, a name given to a Village back in the early 1900’s when this area was once a very important center of the coal mining industry. On November 13th, 1906, voters of Hampton Township petitioned the county court for permission to incorporate as a village. December 8th, 1906, the inhabitants of the community gathered to vote on whether or not Carbon Cliff would become a village. With a vote of 55 to 28 in favor of the proposition Carbon Cliff had become its own entity. The Village of Carbon Cliff was born when six trustees took office on January 12, 1907. And as we say, the rest is history.

Throughout the site you will find photos and old newspaper clippings from the past. Many of the photos and articles have been donated to the Village by past and present residents of Carbon Cliff. We hope you enjoy this collection of Carbon Cliff’s history. If you have pictures, newspaper articles or anything else that you may consider history and you’d like to donate or lend them to the Village to help contribute to the web site, we urge you to do so. You may drop them off at the Village Hall, mail them to the Village of Carbon Cliff, 106 1st Avenue, PO Box 426, Carbon Cliff, Illinois 61239, or you may even e-mail them here. We are more than happy to scan in photos or articles for you so that you may keep the originals in your possession.