View source for Harrisburg, Illinois

{{Short description|Settlement in Illinois, United States}}
{{Other uses|Harrisburg (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                            = Harrisburg
| official_name                   = City of Harrisburg
| settlement_type                 = City
| nicknames                        = The Burg, H-burg
| motto                           = ''Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest''
| image_skyline                   = CompilationHarrisburgIL 2009.jpg
| imagesize                       = 
| image_caption                   = From top left: Northern side of square, [[Garden of the Gods Wilderness|Garden of the Gods]], [[Saline County Courthouse (Illinois)|Saline County Courthouse]] and Clearwave Building, O'Gara mine tipple, southern side of square, Poplar Street homes, Harrisburg Township High School
| image_blank_emblem              = Hburgil logo.jpg
| blank_emblem_type               = City logo<!--this is the official city of Harrisburg logo/branding, as seen in online and offline contexts-->
| blank_emblem_size               = 250px
| image_map                       = Saline County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Harrisburg Highlighted.svg
| mapsize                         = 250px
| map_caption                     = Location of Harrisburg in Saline County, Illinois
<!-- Location ------->
| subdivision_type                = Country
| subdivision_name                = United States
| subdivision_type1               = State
| subdivision_name1               = [[Illinois]]
| subdivision_type2               = [[List of counties in Illinois|County]]
| subdivision_name2               = [[Saline County, Illinois|Saline]]
<!-- Government ------>
| government_footnotes            = 
| government_type                 = 
| leader_title                    = Mayor
| leader_name                     = 
| established_title               = Settled
| established_date                = 1847
| established_title2              = Founded
| established_date2               = 1853
| established_title3              = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
| established_date3               = 1889
<!-- Area ------->
| unit_pref                       = Imperial
| area_footnotes                  = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_17.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=March 15, 2022}}</ref>
| area_total_sq_mi                = 6.81
| area_land_sq_mi                 = 6.61
| area_water_sq_mi                = 0.20
| area_water_percent              = 3.11
| area_total_km2                  = 17.63
| area_land_km2                   = 17.12
| area_water_km2                  = 0.51
<!-- Population ------->
| population_as_of                = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_footnotes            = 
| population_note                 = 
| population_total                = 8219
| population_density_km2          = 479.97
| population_density_sq_mi        = 1243.04
<!-- General information ------->
| timezone                        = [[Central Time Zone|CST]]
| utc_offset                      = −6
| timezone_DST                    = [[Central Daylight Time|CDT]]
| utc_offset_DST                  = −5
| coordinates                     = {{coord|37|44|46|N|88|32|33|W|region:US-IL|display=inline,title}}
| elevation_footnotes             = <ref name=gnis/>
| elevation_ft                    = 381
<!-- Area/postal codes and others --->
| postal_code_type                = ZIP code
| postal_code                     = 62946
| area_codes                       = 618, 730
| blank_name                      = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
| blank_info                      = 17-33136
| blank1_name                     = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info                     = 2394304<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2394304}}</ref>
| website                         = [https://www.harrisburgillinois.com/]
| footnotes                       = 
}}

'''Harrisburg''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ær|ɪ|s|b|ɜːr|ɡ|,_|ˈ|h|ɛər|z|-}}) is a city in and the [[county seat]] of [[Saline County, Illinois]], United States.<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx|access-date=June 7, 2011|title=Find a County|publisher=National Association of Counties}}</ref> It is located about 55 miles (88.51392&nbsp;km) southwest of [[Evansville, Indiana]], and {{convert|111|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. Its 2020 population was 8,219, and the surrounding [[Harrisburg Township, Saline County, Illinois|Harrisburg Township]] had a population of 10,037, including the city residents. Harrisburg is included in the [[Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area]] and is the principal city in the Harrisburg [[Harrisburg, Illinois Micropolitan Statistical area|micropolitan statistical area]] with a combined population of 24,913.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/metro/tables/2007/CBSA-EST2007-01.csv |title=Annual Estimates of the Population of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2007 (CBSA-EST2007-01) |format=[[comma-separated values|CSV]] |work=2007 Population Estimates |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]], Population Division |date=March 27, 2008 |access-date=July 3, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100709020951/http%3A//www%2Ecensus%2Egov/popest/metro/tables/2007/CBSA%2DEST2007%2D01%2Ecsv |archive-date= July 9, 2010 }}</ref>

Located at the [[Concurrency (road)|concurrency]] of [[U.S. Route 45]], [[Illinois Route 13]], [[Illinois Route 145]], and [[Illinois Route 34]], Harrisburg is known as the "Gateway to the [[Shawnee National Forest]]",<ref name="comm">{{cite web |url=http://www.villageprofile.com/illinois/harrisburg/harrisburg.html |title=Community Profile Presents, Harrisburg |work=Harrisburg Illinois Library |access-date=April 6, 2009 |archive-date=February 20, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220163046/http://www.villageprofile.com/illinois/harrisburg/harrisburg.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is also known for the [[Ohio River flood of 1937]], the old [[Crenshaw House (Gallatin County, Illinois)|Crenshaw House]] (also known as the Old Slave House), the [[Tuttle Bottoms Monster]], prohibition-era gangster [[Charles Birger|Charlie Birger]], and the [[2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak|2012 EF4 tornado]]. A [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]] [[boomtown]], the city was one of the leading [[bituminous coal|bituminous]] coal-mining distribution hubs of the [[American Midwest]] between 1900 and 1937.

At its peak, Harrisburg's population reached 16,000 by the early 1930s. The city had one of the largest downtown districts in [[Southern Illinois]].<ref name=RAILROAD>{{Schwieterman-Leaves-Eastern|page=59}}</ref> The city was the 20th-most populated city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area and the most-populous city in Southern Illinois outside the [[Metro East]] in 1930.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Decennial US Census|author=Carolyn Stewart, ACSD|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> However, the city has seen an economic decline due to the decreased demand for high-sulfur coal, the removal of the [[New York Central]] railroad, and tributary lowlands leaving much area around the city unfit for growth due to flood risks.

==History==

===Pioneer and native coexistence===
At the beginning of recorded American history, the Harrisburg area was inhabited by several [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] tribes, including the [[Shawnee Indians|Shawnee]] and [[Piankashaw Indians|Piankashaw]], who lived in the dense inland forests. Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Piankashaw tribe was driven out by the more aggressive Shawnee. European settlement in Illinois began with the French from 1690 and reached its peak about 1750, mainly along the [[Mississippi River]]. American settlers arrived in 1790. The French came as merchants and missionaries, with farming supplementing the need for trade. The result had benefited both the settlers and the Native Americans. The American migration, however, followed treaties which resulted in land being distributed through [[American Law]], ignoring previous indigenous rights. Encroachment ensued and caused hard feelings between the Native Americans and the settlers who moved into the interior and along migration routes. Many of the Indians allied themselves with the British to resist, though trade with the Americans was an important reason why the Native Americans remained largely peaceful.<ref name=SALCOHIS>{{cite book|title=The History of Southern Illinois|first=Pam|last=Mardos|publisher=unknown|year=2006}}</ref>

The town of Harrisburg was platted a few miles south of the junction of the [[Goshen Road|Goshen]] and [[Shawneetown–Kaskaskia Trail]], two of the first pioneer trade routes in the state. Prior to the [[War of 1812]], most of the population of today's Saline County lived in cabins clustered around [[blockhouse]]s to protect against Indian attack and dangerous wildlife such as [[cougar]]s and [[American black bear|bears]]. Permanent settlements in the forested area were inevitable with the influx of more settlers, and the first land entry was made in 1814 by John Wren and Hankerson Rude. By 1840 the settlers outnumbered the Native Americans, and most of the black bear population of the county had been killed off by 1845.<ref name="SALCOHIS"/>

===Founding===
Harrisburg was plotted shortly after Saline County was established in 1847 from part of [[Gallatin County, Illinois|Gallatin County]]. The city was named for James Alexander Harris, who had built a farmhouse and planted a corn field in a clearing in the area of the current city square around 1820.<ref name="Brief">{{cite book|title=A History of Saline County and a Brief History of Harrisburg, Illinois|publisher=Illinois State Historical Society|page=25|year=1934|url = http://www.heritech.com/soil/history/saline_hbg_history.pdf}}</ref>

Harris along with John Pankey, James P. Yandell, and John X. Cain, donated land for the first additions of the town to a special committee at Liberty Baptist Church in 1852, after complaints that the county seat should be centralized in the county. The county seat then was in [[Raleigh, Illinois|Raleigh]]. The county's two main population centers were divided by the Saline River and {{convert|14|mi|km|0}} of [[thicket]]. There were no roads in the county and many residents from the areas of [[Carrier Mills, Illinois|Carrier Mills]] and [[Stonefort, Illinois|Stonefort]] became lost when traveling to the northern settlements of [[Raleigh, Illinois|Raleigh]], [[Galatia, Illinois|Galatia]], and [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]]. The designated town plat was considered due to its aesthetic properties, a {{convert|60|ft|m|0|adj=on}} sandstone [[Hill|bluff]] overlooking the [[Saline River (Illinois)|Saline River]] valley called "Crusoe's Island". Although it was heavily timbered with oak and hickory with an impenetrable hazel underbrush, the site was at the geographical center of the county. A major legal battle took place within the county government because of voter fraud accusations by the people of Raleigh.<ref name="Brief"/> Nevertheless, Harrisburg was plotted as a village on {{convert|20|acre|ha|-1}} in 1853 and became the county seat in 1859.

===Industrial origins===
[[Image:Salinecourthouseandhotelsterling.jpg|thumb|left|Left: First [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] Saline County Courthouse. Right: Garrison House, later Hotel Sterling on Poplar Street.]]

Between 1860 and 1865 southern cotton became unavailable during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Harrisburg was one of the few cities in the [[Upland South]] during this time to have woolen mills, making the town an industrial asset early on to [[Southern Illinois]]. Several [[planing mill]]s and flour mills also dotted the city.<ref name=NeonSign>{{cite book|title=Illinois, a Descriptive and Historical Guide|first=Harold L|last=Hitchens|publisher=US History Publishers|page=430|year=1947|isbn=1-60354-012-1}}</ref> The [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]] was completed in 1872 by [[Ambrose Burnside]], and [[American Civil War]], [[Union Army]], [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] [[Green Berry Raum]], who was living in Harrisburg at that time.<ref name="comm"/>

Robert King, an early proprietor, opened a brick and tile factory at the southern terminus of Main Street in 1896 with the capacity of carrying out 15,000 bricks every 10 hours. Harrisburg also saw the opening of several saw mills. The Snellbaker and Company Saw Mill and Lumber Yard opened in 1895, as well did J.B. Ford Harrisburg Planing Mill the same year. The mill had the capacity of producing {{convert|10000|board feet|m3|1}} of lumber every 10 hours. The Barnes Lumber Company in Harrisburg started as a sawmill operation in 1899. Since 1904 it has retailed a complete line of lumber and building materials and is the oldest, currently active mill in the city.<ref name="SANBORN">{{cite web |url=http://sanborn.umi.com/il/1913/dateid-000007.htm?CCSI=82n |title=Digital Sanborn Maps – Splash Page |work=Harrisburg Illinois Library |access-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Harrisburg, IL West Side of Square.jpg|thumb|right|Locust St. crossing at Main St. West side of square in 1910.]]

The Woolcott Milling Company, operated by J.H. Woolcott and J.C. Wilson built a flour mill in 1874, on the now defunct south Woolcott Street, with [[rail spur]], behind the current Parker Plaza, that had 23 [[grain elevators]] and the capacity of carrying out 200 barrels of flour in a 24-hour period and up to 400 by 1907, with a new {{convert|75000|bushels|L|adj=on}} tower. The exchange market was located in [[Carrier Mills, Illinois|Carrier Mills]].<ref name="SANBORN"/> Located on Commercial Street across the tracks from the train depot, The Southern Illinois Milling & Elevator Company was incorporated on July 29, 1891, by Philip H. Eisenmayer, with a capital stock of $50,000. The company had two elevators, erected at a cost of $125,000, one of which had a capacity of {{convert|25000|bushels|L|-2}} and the other a capacity of 100,000 bushels. Their milling capacity was six hundred barrels per day. Twenty-five men were employed in the operations of the mill and elevators, in addition to a force of from six to eight men regularly employed in the cooperage department.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Southern Illinois|first=Pam|last=Mardos|publisher=unknown|page=1696|year=2006}}</ref>

[[Image:Woolcottmills.jpg|thumb|left|Woolcott Milling Company, 1898]]

During the [[Reconstruction Era]], when economic conditions made impractical the growing of cotton, lumbering and tobacco growing (which pioneers found profitable commercially), grain farming by crop rotation, dairying, reforestation, merchandising and manufacturing, and Coal mining especially, began to occupy the city.<ref>{{cite book|title=A History of Saline County and a Brief History of Harrisburg, Illinois|publisher=Illinois State Historical Society|page=62|year=1934}}</ref> In 1889, with a population of 1,500, Harrisburg became a city, with an aldermanic form of government. It adopted the commission form in 1915.<ref name="comm"/> Despite these early industrial advantages over other cities in the region, the [[Sanborn Map Company]] still referred to the water facilities and road conditions within the city limits, "Not good, and not paved" up to 1900.<ref name="SANBORN"/>

===Coal and rail era===
[[Image:Harrisburgilmap1925.jpg|thumb|left|Harrisburg rail, road, and coal map, 1920. [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway|CCC&STL]] Railroad in blue. SIR&P Co. [[Interurban]] in red.]]

First slope mine operations began in 1854 southeast of Harrisburg. During the early years, the coal was transported by wagon to local homes and businesses for heating. Coal Mining became an important industry for the post-[[Antebellum Age|Antebellum]], now [[Gilded Age]] city.<ref name="comm"/> The [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]] was completed in 1872 and provided transportation for coal and the miners who tired away underground.<ref name="comm"/> After a series of corporate transactions brought the [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]] into the hands of the [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway]] around 1890, with Illinois state representative Charles P Skaggs as mayor,<ref name="SIpast">{{cite book| title=Southern Illinois:Amazing Stories From the Past | edition=1st | author=Bill Nunes| publisher=Corly Printing Of Earth City | year=2008 |isbn=978-0-9787994-1-0}}</ref> Harrisburg evolved into one of the leading [[coal-mining]] centers of the Midwest.<ref name="RAILROAD"/> Harrisburg was a strategic spot on the railroad route with a large hump yard, making it the focal point for the most productive coal field operations. Some of the most profitable coal companies that operated around Harrisburg were Big Creek Coal, Harrisburg Coal and O'Gara Coal. Each one with their own sizable rail yards.<ref name="RAILROAD"/> O'gara was a [[Progressive Era]] coal company owned by Thomas J. O'gara of Chicago. He purchased and annexed 23 privately owned mines in the Harrisburg coal field which equaled {{convert|50000|acre|km2}} of land.<ref name="Ogaracoal">{{cite news | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B05E6DB103AE733A25751C2A9619C946497D6CF | format = Text| title = ''BIG NEW COAL COMPANY'' | date = July 22, 1905 | access-date = April 8, 2009 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref> The Company based its headquarters in Harrisburg in 1905. O'gara only owned 12 operating mines, all in Saline County, but they had an annual output of 7,000,000 tons. 6,000 men were employed in a field capacity and the pay roll disbursement was $150,000 per month. The company paid $10,000 monthly royalty. H. Thomas was the company's general manager of mines, Ed Ghent its chief engineer and D. B. McGehee the assistant general manager.<ref>{{cite book|title=The History of Southern Illinois|first=Pam|last=Mardos|publisher=unknown|pages=1224–1225|year=2006}}</ref>

[[Image:SIP&R Company.jpg|thumb|right|SIR&P Power Station. Powered the trolley line. Inset: Streetcar ticket from [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]] to Harrisburg.]]

By 1905, several small slope mines and 15 shaft mines operated in the county. Most were along the railroad line. Large numbers of immigrants from England, Wales, and eastern Europe, looking for work, detrained at the Harrisburg Train Depot; crowding around quickly expanding mining villages directly outside the city, such as [[Muddy, Illinois|Muddy]], [[Wasson, Illinois|Wasson]], [[Harco, Illinois|Harco]] and [[Ledford, Illinois|Ledford]]. The city's population quickly expanded from 5,000 to 10,000 in a few years.<ref name="RAILROAD"/> By 1906, the [[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Railway|Big four/CCC&STL Railroad]] became the [[New York Central]],<ref name="RAILROAD"/> and Saline County was producing more than 500,000 tons of coal annually with more than 5000 miners at work.<ref name="comm"/> In 1915 the [[Ringling Brothers Circus]] made an appearance in Harrisburg.<ref name="DeNeal, Gary 2003">DeNeal, Gary, interview (2003). "The Legend of Charlie Birger". WSIU-TV.</ref> In 1913, the Southern Illinois Railway and Power Company operated an [[interurban]] trolley line, that ran from downtown [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]], into [[Muddy, Illinois|Muddy]], Wasson, Beulah Heights, through downtown Harrisburg, Dorrisville, [[Ledford, Illinois|Ledford]] and into downtown [[Carrier Mills, Illinois|Carrier Mills]], all of which had larger residential areas than present.<ref name=INTERURBAN>{{cite book|title=The Electric Interurban Railways in America|first=George|last=Hilton|publisher=Stanford University Press|page=352|year=2000|isbn=0-8047-4014-3}}</ref> In 1917 there were plans to extend the line westward to [[Marion, Illinois|Marion]] and [[Carbondale, Illinois|Carbondale]] to connect to the Coal Belt Co. line, and then run it towards St. Louis.<ref name=Standard>{{cite book|title=Standard corporation service, daily revised|publisher= Standard Statistics Company|page=87|year=1917}}</ref> The trolley wire through the county was {{convert|16|ft|m|0}} high.<ref name="Brief"/> It was an off branch of the [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]]. The corporation erected the first electrical generating plant in [[Muddy, Illinois]].<ref name="INTERURBAN"/>

The [[Central Illinois Public Service Company]] purchased the Muddy Power Station in 1916. It had a generating capacity of 7,500 kilowatts. After removing an original 2,500-kilowatt unit, the company added two 5,000-kilowatt turbine-generators and one 10,000 kilowatt unit, bringing the stations total capacity to 25,000 kilowatts in 1922. Electricity generated at the station was distributed over 66-kv, double circuit steel tower transmission lines extending to [[West Frankfort, Illinois|West Frankfort]] to the west, the [[Ohio River]] to the east, and [[Olney, Illinois|Olney]] to the north. The plant had two impounding reservoirs which covered {{convert|80|acre|ha}} and held 320 million gallons of water.<ref name="Brief"/>

[[File:First Trust and Savings Bank, Harrisburg, Illinois.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The [[Renaissance Revival Architecture|Renaissance Revival]] First Trust and Savings Bank Building was the largest of the downtown building projects during the 1920s. It was the second tallest building in [[Southern Illinois]], with the first being the Spivey Building in [[East St. Louis]].]]

The community benefited from the prosperity of the [[Roaring Twenties]], flaunting the most extravagant displays of wealth in the city's history. The {{convert|230|ft|m|adj=on}} [[neon]] red tower belonging to the WEBQ-A.M. radio station was the tallest structure in the city and could be seen for miles.<ref name="NeonSign"/> Harrisburg had just finished the new three-story Horning Hotel around 1920, and two new theaters with a combined total of 1,600 seats: the Orpheum and the Grand the same year. The eight-story Harrisburg National Bank building, the O'Gara Coal Headquarters, the Cummins Office building, and the four-story Harrisburg Hospital were all built in 1923. The new four-story [[Harrisburg City Hall]] building was constructed in 1927, and a complex highway system was constructed through the city, with [[Illinois Route 13]] and [[Illinois Route 34]] constructed in 1918; [[U.S. Route 45]] and [[Illinois Route 145]] constructed in 1925–1926. During this time the city expanded to 15,000 people. The annexation of Dorrisville and Dorris Heights created blue collar, multiple, and single family homes filling in between.<ref name="100 years">{{cite book| title=Commemorating 150 Years of History in Harrisburg, Illinois | edition=1st | author=Daily Register | publisher=Daily Register | year=2003}}</ref> On Vine Street south of the town square was "Wiskey Chute", a saloon [[vice district]] for local miners.<ref name="SIpast"/> It was also during this time that the town was home to [[prohibition]]-era bootlegger [[Charles Birger]], whose gang was said to have protected local business owners better than the law enforcement. For a time, the gangster's prized [[Thompson submachine gun|Tommy gun]] was displayed in a glass case in the City Hall.<ref name="DeNeal, Gary 2003"/> The geography around Harrisburg changed indefinitely, with coal areas producing a [[surface mining]] landscape the size of [[San Jose, California]], roughly {{convert|172|sqmi|km2|abbr=on}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zonums.com/gmaps/maptool.php|title=MapTool 2|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> aptly named the Harrisburg Coal Field. The field completely encased the towns of Carrier Mills and Harrisburg, while creating partial borders to Stonefort, Galatia, and Raleigh. Near the mines were gob piles that spontaneously combusted. The horizon around the city for many years flickered with burning [[coal refuse]].<ref name="NeonSign"/>

===Slow economic decline===
Harrisburg reached its peak population of 15,659 in 1930, making it the 20th most populated city outside the [[Chicago Metropolitan Area]], in Illinois, and the most populous city in Southern Illinois outside the metro-east. If the city combined the service communities bordering Harrisburg such as [[ledford, Illinois|Ledford]] and [[Muddy, Illinois|Muddy]], the population would have been even greater at 26,000, and Saline County as a whole reached nearly 40,000 people.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/il190090.txt Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990]. United States Census Bureau, March 27, 1995.</ref> Even with the economic downturn during the [[Great Depression]], with business owners and industrial firms closing shop, the city continued to thrive due to its enormous coal industry. On June 17, 1936, [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] visited Harrisburg to observe work of the [[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] and delivered a speech in the packed high school gymnasium.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1425872156/75th-anniversary-of-Eleanor-Roosevelt-visit-is-Thursday|title=75th anniversary of Eleanor Roosevelt visit was Thursday|location=Harrisburg, Illinois|work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-date=March 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325144255/http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1425872156/75th-anniversary-of-Eleanor-Roosevelt-visit-is-Thursday|url-status=dead}}</ref> The heyday ended quickly when the [[Ohio River flood of 1937]] left 4,000 within the city homeless and 80% of the city inundated.<ref name="The Pittsburgh Press page 50">''The Pittsburgh Press'', page 50. United Press, January 29, 1937.</ref> Many flooded mines were deemed condemned which left the local economy crippled. In 1938, the state of Illinois had completed one of the largest operations of its kind ever attempted in the United States, the removal of more than two and a half billion gallons of flood water from Sahara mine No. 3.<ref>''Chicago Daily Tribune'', page 4. United Press, May 9, 1938.</ref>

[[Image:Harrisburg, IL 1917 Saline County Courthouse.jpg|thumb|right|Former Saline County Courthouse, 1917]]

Soon the Southern Illinois Railway and Power company was bought by the [[Central Illinois Public Service Company]]. The inter-urban line was abandoned in 1933 after 20 years of service.<ref name="INTERURBAN"/> After the decommission of the Interurban line, Harrisburg opened the Harrisburg-Dorrisville Bus Co., which was a private predecessor bus company to the current Rides Mass Transit District which was opened in 1980.<ref name="100 years"/> Between 1930 and 1940 the city lost 27% of its overall population.<ref name="census.gov">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |newspaper=Census.gov – Publications – U.S. Census Bureau |access-date= April 25, 2016}}</ref>

Immediately after World War II new coal companies, [[Peabody Energy Corporation|Peabody]], Bluebird, and Sahara, started mining within the city. The war created a great demand for energy, which was satisfied by expanded strip mining operations throughout the Harrisburg Coal Fields. Shortly after World War II, it became clear that coal was losing favor to other energy sources such as oil and natural gas. In contrast to other cities in the United States that prospered in the post-war boom, the fortunes of Saline County began to quickly diminish.<ref name="RAILROAD"/> [[Harry Truman]] stopped briefly in Harrisburg during his [[whistlestop]] tour on September 30, 1948, giving some hope for economic recovery for the region. Without hesitating, the long parade of police, buses, and accompanying cars sped through town. [[Illinois Route 13|Poplar Street]], at that time the main drag through town, was crowded with multitudes of persons for its entire length. It was reported by the ''Daily Register'' newspaper that cars were lined along Route 13 all the way from [[Marion, Illinois|Marion]] and on to [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]] on Route 45.<ref name="100 years"/> In 1950 Illinois Assistant State Attorney General [[George N. Leighton]] represented parents in a proceeding which desegregated the public schools of Harrisburg.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nealandleroy.com/bioleighton.htm |title=Judge George N. Leighton – Chicago Criminal Lawyers, Illinois Appellate Law, Chicago law firms, illinois appellate lawyers, george leighton |newspaper=Web.archive.org |access-date=April 25, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515223429/http://www.nealandleroy.com/bioleighton.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2005 }}</ref> On December 1, 1953, [[WSIL-TV]] 3 was founded and based out of the city. The station built the {{convert|503|ft|m|abbr=on}}, WSIL tower in downtown which was one of the tallest television towers in the state at the time and is still the tallest structure in the city.

[[Image:Saharastrippingshovel.jpg|thumb|right|Sahara Coal and [[Bucyrus International|Bucyrus-Erie's]] "[[The Silver Spade|GEM of Egypt]]" strip mine shovel, one of the largest in the world at 8 stories high and weighing 1,000 tons at [[Harco, Illinois|Harco]]<ref name=SIpast/>]]

By 1957, the Egyptian was the last passenger train to travel through the city.<ref name="100 years"/> Between 1940 and 1960 Harrisburg lost another 20% of its population due to economic standstill.<ref name="census.gov"/> With only 9100 people left in the city that once had 16,000, then Senator [[John F. Kennedy]] made a campaign stop on October 3, 1960. Speaking at the Saline County Court House he said <blockquote>"This district, which is built on the land and which has been nourished by the land, personifies the kind of problems which I think the United States is going to face in the 1960s. This district has depended in the main for its resources, its growth, its wealth, upon the minerals underground and upon the food that is grown on the ground. And those are those industries that have faced serious problems in the 1950s."<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite web|url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=25952|title=Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy, Harrisburg, IL|access-date=2009-04-17|last=Kennedy|first=John F.|date=1960-08-03|publisher=[[John F. Kennedy Library]]}}</ref></blockquote>

Later during the same speech, after addressing agriculture, Senator Kennedy stated:

<blockquote>"Farmers could farm and work in the cities and towns, but this year we have the highest unemployment that we have had in any months of August and September, the three Augusts and Septembers preceding the recession of 1949, 1954, and 1958, and this district knows this problem well, because this district has lost 60,000 people in the last 10 years."<ref name="Kennedy"/></blockquote>

By 1968, with hopes of bringing a new influx of coal mining into the city, Sahara Coal Company ordered the [[Bucyrus International|Bucyrus-Erie]] "[[The Silver Spade|GEM of Egypt]]" strip mine shovel, one of the largest in the world at 8 stories high and weighing 1,000 tons.<ref name="SIpast"/> It took three men to operate it, and its bucket capacity was 30 cubic yards. Even with such great efforts coal mining continued to dwindle within the community. The train depot was razed in 1972 and all coal freight was ordered out of the Harrisburg Hump Yard by 1973. During the 1970s and 1980s, many of the city-square storefronts and mini-plazas became vacant and were slowly abandoned as large [[chain stores]] and [[strip malls]] on [[U.S. Route 45|Commercial Street]] became the dominant venues for shopping and entertainment, hoping to bring an influx of travelers from the main highway.<ref name="RAILROAD"/>

The [[Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990]] legislation forced many utility companies in the United States to switch to low-sulfur coal. In response Harrisburg's already waning economy took a severe downturn. The freight yard had closed in 1982; Sahara Coal Company shut down operations in 1993, and 865 jobs were lost in the county that year.<ref name="IllinoisIssue">{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1993/ii931119.html |title=Coal is a dirty word |work=Harrisburg Illinois Library |access-date=April 8, 2009}}</ref> This ended the reign of big coal in Harrisburg, a way of life for residents for over 100 years.<ref name="RAILROAD"/> The [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]]/[[Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railway]] system tracks were taken up in the late 1980s and replaced by the [[Tunnel Hill State Trail]] in 1996.<ref name="RAILROAD"/>

===Post-coal economy===
Soon Pioneer history was showcased at the Saline County Area Historical Museum on the city's southern edge. The {{convert|3|acre|ha|adj=on}} site includes the three-story high Old Pauper Home, which was once part of the county's {{convert|170|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[poor farm]], built in 1877. The site also features a variety of cabins, a one-room school house, a small church and other historic buildings that have been acquired, moved to the site and restored.<ref name="comm"/>

[[File:HBurgILDowntown7.jpg|thumb|upright|Downtown Harrisburg in 1967]]

The [[Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport]] is located approximately four miles north of Harrisburg on Highway 34. The Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport Authority operates the airport. The Airport has two runways–32/14 and 6/24. Runway 24 includes a {{convert|1000|ft|m|adj=on}} extension, bringing the runway to {{convert|5000|ft|m}} with a GPS-RNAV approach.<ref>{{cite web | last =Homan | first =John D. | title =Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport extends runway | publisher =The Southern | date =October 21, 2006 | url =http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2006/10/21/business/17934699.txt | access-date =April 8, 2009 }}</ref>

[[File:Hburg Illinois Walmart 2008.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|New Harrisburg [[Wal-Mart]] supercenter, built 2008]]

Two industrial zones were set up within the township in 1974 by the Saline County Industrial Development Co., one located in Dorrisville, and the other located near the Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport. The one in Dorrisville had the advantage of rail spur prior to the removal of the New York Central tracks. A Tax Increment Finance district was built on the property of the old rail yard north of the city where the Harrisburg Professional Park was built.<ref name="prof">{{cite web | title =Harrisburg, Illinois | publisher =Community Profile Network | url =http://www.villageprofile.com/illinois/harrisburg/harrisburg1.html#biz | access-date =April 8, 2009 }}</ref>

The 2000s saw a slight economic boom to the city. The industrial base within the city, while most were not coal-related, gave opportunity to a number of city residents. American Coal and Arclar, the only two coal mines in the county were producing low [[sulfur]] coal as an energy resource. [[Kerr-McGee]] Coal Corporation's Galatia Complex was purchased by the American Coal Company in 1998.<ref>{{cite web | last =Muir| first =Jim | title =Harrisburg-Raleigh Airport extends runway | publisher =The Southern | date =January 4, 2006 | url =http://www.thesouthern.com/articles/2006/01/04/top/10003137.txt | access-date =April 18, 2009 }}</ref> American Coal employed about 580 workers, while Arclar employed 175 persons. Nationwide Glove Factory employed 225 persons, and American Needle was the second-largest non-coal company with 125 workers. Southern Truss and Harrisburg Truss companies employed together 100 employees manufacturing building components.<ref name="prof"/> In 2008 construction on the Harrisburg [[Wal-Mart]] Supercenter was completed. Wal-Mart will give $21,950 in grants to the Anna Bixby Women's Center, Bridge Medical Clinic, CASA of Saline County, Harrisburg District Library, Harrisburg Police Department, Harvest Deliverance Center Food Pantry, Regional Superintendent of Schools, Saline County Senior Citizens Council and Saline County Sheriff's Department. The building is {{convert|184000|sqft|m2}} and added 150 new jobs to the county. The Supercenter became the second-largest employer in the city, with 340&nbsp;employees on its payroll.<ref>{{cite web | title =Rollie Moore Drive Dedicated | publisher =Daily Register | date = October 28, 2008| url =http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1588592988/Rollie-Moore-Drive-dedicated-in-time-for-Wal-Mart-grand-opening | access-date =April 18, 2009 }}</ref> A new strip mall was completed on the south side of town, and Parker Plaza, the oldest shopping center in town was renovated with a new facade to promote commercial growth in the city.<ref>{{cite web|title=Commercial Growth in Harrisburg |publisher=WSIL TV |url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=2152&type=top |access-date=April 8, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716095849/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=2152&type=top |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

Things slowly took a turn for the worse when former Illinois Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]]'s decision to move a division of [[Illinois Department of Transportation|I-DOT]] to [[Southern Illinois]] was overturned by his successor [[Pat Quinn (politician)|Pat Quinn]]. Blagojevich's decision outraged lawmakers in [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]]. A lawsuit was filed to stop the move to Harrisburg.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=7037&type=top |format=Text |title=No IDOT in Harrisburg |date=March 19, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |work=[[WSIL-TV]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716095915/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=7037&type=top |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref> Matters were exacerbated when videos of the new home for the IDOT traffic safety division being surrounded by water surfaced on YouTube in late 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=5149&type=top |format=Text |title=Under Controversy Or Under Water |date=August 1, 2007 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |work=[[WSIL-TV]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716095943/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=5149&type=top |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

The early 2010s saw a series of unfortunate economic events for the city. In December 2010, Harrisburg's [[AMC Theatres|AMC]], formerly Kerasotes' Cinema 4 theater, closed. This was the first time Harrisburg had been without a cinema since 1920.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1996684543/Harrisburgs-theater-boarded-up|title=Harrisburg's theater boarded up|location=Harrisburg, Illinois|author=Brian DeNeal|work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> After release of the 2010 census, in February 2011, the city learned that its population had dropped to a low of 9,017 people, an 8.5 percent decrease.<ref>{{citation |url= http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=12452&type=top |title=WSIL TV • Census Finds Mixed Results in Southern Illinois |author=Emily Finnegan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718121952/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=12452&type=top |date=July 18, 2011 |archive-date=July 18, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was the lowest population since the pre-coal boom of 1900. Harrisburg also suffered from numerous scandals involving the school district and police department. In 2011, the Chief Deputy of the Saline County Sheriffs Department was sentenced to prison for sexually abusing a high school student who was working as an intern.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Former chief deputy Todd Fort sentenced to prison in intern sex case|url = http://www.courierpress.com/news/local-news/crime/no-headline-ev_fort|access-date = August 24, 2015|first = Len|last = Wells}}</ref> The biggest hit was in late February 2012, an EF4 tornado hit Harrisburg during the [[2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak]]. The southern part of the city was heavily damaged, with houses and businesses destroyed, many of which were completely leveled. Eight people were killed and 110 were injured by that tornado.<ref name="NBC 0229">{{cite web|publisher=[[NBC News]]|date=February 29, 2012|access-date=February 29, 2012|title=13 killed as tornadoes rake Midwest states|url=http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10536654-13-killed-as-tornadoes-rake-midwest-states|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229163819/http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/29/10536654-13-killed-as-tornadoes-rake-midwest-states|archive-date=February 29, 2012}}</ref><ref name="dailyregister.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1957361037/Seventh-person-dies-from-Harrisburg-tornado|title=Seventh person dies from Harrisburg tornado |location=Harrisburg, Illinois|author=Brian DeNeal|work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> In November 2012 a decision was made to close Willow Lake Mine, one of the last remaining mines in Saline County, putting 400 employees out of work.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hibbs |first=Jason |url=http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Mine-closed-for-good-400-jobs-lost-181119971.html |title=Mine closed for good, 400 jobs lost |work=WPSD TV |location=Saline County, Illinois |date=November 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121130175614/http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/local/Mine-closed-for-good-400-jobs-lost-181119971.html |archive-date=November 30, 2012 }}</ref>

In 2016, Harrisburg opened a new movie theater. In 2018 [[Mason Ramsey]], a boy from [[Golconda, Illinois|Golconda]], went [[Viral video|viral]] after yodeling his rendition of [[Hank Williams]]' "[[Lovesick Blues]]" in the Harrisburg Walmart. Within a few days videos of his performance collectively garnered over 25 million views and he became a viral sensation and Internet meme.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/04/04/yodeling-walmart-boy-little-hank/|title=Yodeling 'Walmart Boy' from Illinois, Captures Hearts Online|date=April 4, 2018}}</ref>

Harrisburg continues to be the retail hub of [[Saline County, Illinois|Saline County]]. It holds the nearest shopping centers, restaurants, churches, gas stations, banks, and other commerce within miles.<ref name="comm"/> However, industrial jobs are scarce.

==Geography==
Harrisburg is located at {{Coord|37|44|2|N|88|32|45|W|type:city}} (37.733765, −88.545873).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> According to the 2010 census, Harrisburg has a total area of {{convert|6.759|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|6.55|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 96.91%) is land and {{convert|0.209|sqmi|sqkm|2}} (or 3.09%) is water.<ref name="census-g001">{{cite web
  |url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1733136
  |title=G001 – Geographic Identifiers – 2010 Census Summary File 1
  |access-date=December 27, 2015
  |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]
  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20200213055251/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_SF1/G001/1600000US1733136
  |archive-date=February 13, 2020
  |url-status=dead
  }}</ref> The square in the center of town, as well as Dorrisville and Gaskins City, stand on top of a series of [[sandstone]] [[Hill|bluffs]] that were once islands rising above natural lowlands, {{convert|338|ft|m|0}} above sea level, dredged by the middle fork of the [[Saline River (Illinois)|Saline River]].<ref name="geolha">{{cite book|title=Geological Survey of Illinois|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owQdAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207|year=1875|publisher=State journal steam Press|pages=207–}}</ref> The Saline River was a navigable river used by early settlers for transportation to and from Salt Works just east of Harrisburg. The Saline flowed towards the [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and flooded every spring in events called [[Freshet]]s. The locals called the island "Crusoe's Island". When the area was drained, homes and businesses were built in the floodplain, and it became prone to serious flooding for years to come.<ref name="Transactions">{{cite book|title=Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science|publisher=University of Michigan|page=206|year=1937}}</ref> The town square in the center of town is a [[sandstone]] [[Hill|bluff]] {{convert|410|ft|m|0}} above sea level, one of the first that start the [[Shawnee Hills]] to the south. Topographic maps show the bluffs that rise from the Saline River that wraps the northeast part of the city.<ref>{{cite web | title =Harrisburg USGS Harrisburg Quad, Illinois, Topographic Map | work =Trails.com | publisher =Demand Media, Inc. | url =http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=37.73833&lon=-88.54055&size=&symshow=n&u=2&datum=nad27&layer=DRG25 | access-date =April 8, 2009 }}</ref> Harrisburg is located at the ending point of the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]], which covered about 85 percent of Illinois. The edge of Illinoian ice sheet(s) lay further south than the southernmost extent, i.e. [[Douglas County, Kansas]], of any of the Pre-Illinoian ice sheets.<ref name="StiffHansel">Stiff, B. J., and A.K. Hansel, 2004, ''Quaternary glaciations in Illinois.'' in Ehlers, J., and P.L. Gibbard, eds., pp. 71–82, ''Quaternary Glaciations: Extent and Chronology 2: Part II North America'', Elsevier, Amsterdam. {{ISBN|0-444-51462-7}}</ref>

=== Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest ===
[[Image:Garden of the Gods fg05.jpg|thumb|right|Shawnee National Forest]]
More than {{convert|270000|acre|km2}} of [[Shawnee National Forest]] lie to the south of Harrisburg, drawing visitors annually to the Saline County area and the gateway community. The Shawnee National Forest offers much to see and do. The national forest has {{convert|1250|mi|km}} of roadways, some {{convert|150|mi|km}} of streams and frequent waterfalls, numerous ponds and lakes as large as {{convert|2700|acre|km2}} (some with swimming beaches), 13 campgrounds, many picnicking sites, and seven wilderness areas where trails are designed for hiking and horseback riding.<ref name="BALANCING">{{cite news |last=Selbert |first=Pamela |date=January 1, 1993 |title=Balancing act on the Shawnee |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-13687824.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430095120/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-13687824.html <!--Added by H3llBot--> |archive-date=April 30, 2009 |access-date=April 8, 2009 |work=American Forests}}</ref>

Plant life is extremely diverse and ranges from sun-loving species to those that grow in dense shade. Tree cover dominates the publicly owned acreage, and is a significant component on privately owned lands. Oak-hickory is the predominant timber type, however, many other commercially important timber species also occupy significant acreages. More than 500 wildlife species can be found in the Forest, including 48 mammals, 237 birds, 52 reptiles, 57 amphibians, and 109 species of fish. There are seven federally listed threatened and endangered species that inhabit the Forest, as well as 33 species which are considered regionally sensitive, and 114 Forest-listed species.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shawnee National Forest |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/shawnee/ |access-date=April 8, 2009 |publisher=US Forest Service}}</ref>

When the Shawnee Purchase Units were first established, temporary headquarters were set up in Room 303, First Trust and Savings Bank Building, Harrisburg, Illinois. This was the only modern office building in the town of Harrisburg suitable for headquarters, and the forest has continued to occupy this building as Supervisor's offices. Expansion of the offices has continued since 1933, until today (June 1938), ten rooms on the third floor, and four rooms on the fourth floor, are leased by the Forest Service. Employees who were here during the early days of the forest tell of the chaos and confusion caused by the small space under lease, the incoming shipments of equipment and supplies, and the constant inflow of new personnel.<ref>{{cite web |date=March 12, 2004 |title=The Creation of the Shawnee National Forest 1930–1938 |url=http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/shawnee/about/history/ |access-date=April 8, 2009 |publisher=US Forest Service}}</ref>

===Cottage Grove Fault System===
[[File:New Madrid and Wabash seizmic zones-USGS mod.png|thumb|right|Map showing the Cottage Grove Fault in green|alt=Jutting off the Wabash Valley seismic zone on the Illinois–Indiana border is the Cottage Grove Fault. To the south, on the edge of Missouri, is the New Madrid seismic zone.]]

After the 5.5 [[Richter Scale]] magnitude [[1968 Illinois earthquake]], scientists realized that there was a previously unknown fault under Saline County, just south of [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]] near Harrisburg. This fault is called the Cottage Grove Fault, a small tear in the Earth's rock running west–east, in the Southern Illinois Basin. The fault is connected to the north–south trending [[Wabash Valley Fault System]] at its eastern end.<ref name="Bristol1979">{{cite journal|last=Bristol|first=Hubert M.|author2=Treworgy, Janis D.|title=The Wabash Valley fault System in Southeastern Illinois|year=1979|publisher=Illinois Institute of Natural Resources|version=Circular 509|url=http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c509.pdf|location=Urbana, Illinois|access-date=June 11, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616065324/http://library.isgs.uiuc.edu/Pubs/pdfs/circulars/c509.pdf|archive-date=June 16, 2010}}</ref> Seismographic mapping completed by geologists reveal that [[monocline]]s, [[anticline]]s, and [[syncline]]s are present within the region; these signs suggest deformation during the [[Paleozoic era]] coincident to [[Fault (geology)#Strike-slip faults|strike-slip faulting]] nearby.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002NC/finalprogram/abstract_31987.htm|title=Seismic Reflection Investigation of the Cottage Grove Fault System, Southern Illinois Basin|publisher=Geological Society of America|date=April 4, 2002|access-date=November 25, 2008|archive-date=December 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204210243/http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002NC/finalprogram/abstract_31987.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

A [[focal mechanism]] solution of the earthquake confirmed two nodal planes both striking north–south and dipping approximately 45&nbsp;degrees to the east and to the west. This faulting suggests [[Fault (geology)#Dip-slip faults|dip-slip reverse motion]], and to a horizontal east–west axis of confining stress.<ref name="BSSA">{{cite journal |last=Stauder |first=William |author2=Nuttli, Otto W. |date=June 1970 |title=Seismic studies: South central Illinois earthquake of November 9, 1968 |journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=973–981 |doi=10.1785/BSSA0600030973 |bibcode=1970BuSSA..60..973S |s2cid=130306348 |url=http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/3/973 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724014852/http://www.bssaonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/3/973 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=November 9, 2008 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The rupture also occurred partially on the [[New Madrid Fault]], responsible for the great [[1812 New Madrid earthquake|New Madrid earthquakes]] in 1812, consisting of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the [[contiguous United States]].<ref name="Dispatch">{{cite news|url=http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/1968EQ/post.html|title=Quake Damage Minor; Felt Over Wide Area in Midwest and East|newspaper=St. Louis Post Dispatch|author=Staff|date=November 9, 1968|access-date=November 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006115214/http://www.eas.slu.edu/Earthquake_Center/1968EQ/post.html <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=October 6, 2008}}</ref>

===Cityscape===
[[Image:Harrisburg, IL Old Post Office.jpg|thumb|right|Old Harrisburg Post Office on the corner of Main and Church Street.]]
[[Image:Harrisburg, IL Areal Junior High.jpg|thumb|left|Harrisburg square, 1950. At the beginning of the 20th century, Harrisburg prospered with one of the largest downtown districts in downstate Illinois.]]

During the early 20th century, urbanization of the city due to the geographical feature of "Cruesoe's Island" and surrounding coal mining property created a density not seen in many cities of its size. The city at the time with a population nearing 10,000 was forced to tightly cram homes and businesses upon the sandstone outcropping less than a square mile in diameter leading many to build their buildings with multiple stories around the town square. The [[Saline County, Illinois|Saline County]] courthouse and square have gone through many transformations within the past 100 years. In the 19th century, the town had dirt streets with a large [[Greek Revival]] courthouse with [[Doric columns]] built by Swiss-born, Evansville, Indiana Architect J. K. Frick & Co in 1861. The courthouse was replaced in 1906 with a larger building designed by then well-known architect [[John W. Gaddis]] of [[Vincennes, Indiana]]. The structure was an identical model to the Perry County Courthouse at [[Perryville, Missouri]], both built the same year. A smaller version of the central clock tower of the courthouse, including the original clock, manufactured by the [[E. Howard & Co.|Howard Clock Company]], of Boston Massachusetts in 1904 was recreated in 1996, and placed in a small lot behind the [[Clearwave Communications|Clearwave]] Building's parking lot. The Howard clock company was notable for manufacturing large clocks in such buildings as the [[Wrigley Building]] in Chicago, and the [[San Francisco Ferry Building|Ferry Building]] in San Francisco, California. The town square was completely surrounded by brick streets in 1906.<ref name="100 years" /> Harrisburg had {{convert|25|mi|km}} of brick streets,<ref name="SANBORN" /> but now only a few blocks are left.<ref name="comm" />

Harrisburg has not yet begun a National Trust for Historic Preservation, [[Main Street]] historical preservation program. Saline County is within a recognized historical district, the "Ohio River Route Where Illinois Began". Two buildings in Harrisburg are currently listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]], those being the City Hall and the Saline County Poor Farm.<ref>{{cite web | title =Illinois – Saline County  | publisher =National Register of Historic Places | url =http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/il/Saline/state.html | access-date =April 8, 2009 }}</ref>

[[Image:Poplar streetHburgIl.jpg|thumb|right|19th-century residential neighborhood in Harrisburg]]

The square itself held an array of coal mining offices, privately owned business, grocery and department stores, pharmacies and bars. During the closing of the coal mining era, most of the businesses left the square and moved to the main drag of [[U.S. Route 45|Rt. 45]], constructed in 1926. The courthouse built by [[John W. Gaddis]] was replaced with a modern, more efficient building in 1967 after the older building was condemned.<ref name="100 years" /> Over the years, the architecture that graced Harrisburg square has slowly turned to rotting older structures mixed in with a hodge-podge of newer updated buildings. Currently there are a few privately owned downtown renovation projects in progress on and around the square.<ref name="100 years" />

The [[Carnegie Library|Harrisburg Mitchell-Carnegie Library]], located on Church Street south of the square and built with a grant from [[Andrew Carnegie]], was built in 1908 and opened to the public in 1909. The building served the community until 2000 when the library was moved to a new building on north Main Street. During the [[Ohio River flood of 1937|1937 flood]], the library was used as a makeshift hospital until the water boiler burst. The building now serves as a church.

Harrisburg has three city parks. Memorial Park, Gaskins City Park, and Dorris Heights Park. Memorial Park, on the west end of town, is the largest<ref name="comm" /> with the city park pool and a large lagoon snaking through the center,<ref name="park">{{cite web |url=http://www.harrisburgpark.net/memparkmap.htm |title=Harrisburg Township Park District |publisher=Harrisburg Illinois Library |access-date=April 20, 2009}}</ref> founded in 1935.<ref name="park2">{{cite web |url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/1994/ip940316.html |title=Oldest Parks celebrated |publisher=Harrisburg Illinois Library |access-date=April 20, 2009}}</ref>

The [[Sunset Lawn Cemetery (Harrisburg, Illinois)|Sunset Lawn Cemetery]] is the largest in the county, founded in 1880, connected to the west edge of the city. The cemetery contains ornate tombstones and crypts, within which are the remains of most of the city's original founders and prominent residents. Sunset Lawn contained the 90-year-old Sunset Mausoleum. The crypt had marble floors, with 75 persons buried inside. The structure was condemned in 2008 and there were plans of removal of the bodies and reburial within the cemetery, but due to problems finding many of the family members, has not come to fruition.<ref name="Maus1">{{cite web|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4653&type=top |title=City of Harrisburg Gets Help for Mausoleum |work=WSIL TV |access-date=May 7, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716100020/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4653&type=top |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref>

In May 2010, on 301 N. Granger Street, the 1895 home of city bricklayer and early proprietor Robert King was set to be demolished. The homeowners donated it to Saline County [[Habitat for Humanity]] last year hoping that the organization might be able to restore it. The home was considered "unrestorable".<ref>Daily Register Newspaper, April 15, 2010, Brian DeNeal</ref> In 2012, Harrisburg High School was placed on the Landmark Illinois endangered buildings list. Two seniors at Harrisburg High School were preparing a nomination of the building for listing in the [[National Register of Historic Places]], and they helped to distribute a petition through social media to help save the school.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.landmarks.org/ten_most_2012_historic_neighborhood_schools.htm|title=Landmarks Illinois Ten Most 2012|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103123306/http://www.landmarks.org/ten_most_2012_historic_neighborhood_schools.htm|archive-date=November 3, 2014}}</ref>

===Harrisburg neighborhoods===
[[Image:Harrisburg industrial.jpg|thumb|Harrisburg industrial zone in Dorrisville]]

Harrisburg is split up into several small neighborhoods that were annexed into the city limits over time, from north to south.<ref name="Brief" />
* '''Dorris Heights''' – A subdivision established in 1923 on land owned by W.S. and Bertha Dorris. Annexed in 1979. Sits to the direct north of Harrisburg with the Dorris Heights Street being the main road through the area. The Saline County Fair Grounds sits to between Dorris Heights St. and the Levee to the north. Small Street heads east from Dorris Heights towards the Arrow Head Point shopping center.<ref name="EightyEight">{{cite book|title=A History of Saline County and a Brief History of Harrisburg, Illinois|publisher=Illinois State Historical Society|page=88|year=1934}}</ref>
* '''Buena Vista''' – Situated to the south and north of Route 13 (Poplar Street), and west of the main village. It holds the newer town water tower and several homes. It is bordered by Liberty to the south.<ref name="Brief" />
* '''Wilmoth Addition''' – Is an area of prominently African American residents north of Old Harrisburg, and just south of Dorris Heights. A good portion of the Wilmoth Addition was slowly abandoned and torn down when the Rt. 13 bypass was built in 2008.<ref name="Brief" />
* '''Old Harrisburg Village''' – The streets that surround the town square. It includes everything on Main street north and south, and Poplar street from the levee to the east and the town park to the west. It also includes the High School, the old Junior High, West and East Side schools, the Courthouse, the town park and cemetery to the west, and the main shopping strip on Route 45. This part of the city is the oldest, and is recognized mainly by the densely packed gilded age houses and structures lined on narrow brick streets. Most of this area is located on "Crusoe's Island", and was built during a pre-automobile-centric Harrisburg.<ref name="Brief" />
* '''Gaskins City''' – Includes a small village annexed in 1905, named for the Gaskins family of Harrisburg, prominent business owners and coal entrepreneurs of the Egyptian Coal Company, later sold to O'Gara.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.memoriallibrary.com/IL/South/Bios/G/Gaskins~John.htm|title=History of Southern Illinois ~ Biography of John T. Gaskins|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> Gaskins City is a series of several blocks that exists to the east of the Harrisburg Levee and Route 45. Sloan Street crosses Route 45, runs straight into the center of Gaskins City and terminates at the Harrisburg Medical Center. It contains Gaskins City Baptist Church, Shawnee Hills Country Club, and is an upper-class neighborhood. It used to have its own school at one time.<ref name="Brief" /> A large part of Gaskins City was obliterated by the 2012 EF4 Tornado. Part of Harrisburg Medical Center was also heavily damaged.
[[Image:Drsoldhouseharrisburgil.jpg|thumb|The Thomas Osment home on Walnut Street. A Classic [[Colonial Revival architecture|Colonial Revival]] [[Gilded Age]] Harrisburg house.]]
[[File:Harrisburg Illinois Skyline.JPG|thumb|Harrisburg downtown (Crusoe's Island) as seen from far east Poplar Street ([[Illinois State Route 13|Route 13]])]]
* '''Garden Heights''' – Slightly south of Gaskins City. Connects it with Route 34 and Pankyville.<ref name="EightyEight" />
* '''Dorrisville''' – Straight south of Harrisburg, and established in 1905 with a post office, and annexed by the city in 1923. Dorrisville holds the Dorrisville Baptist Church, the Saline County Area Historical Museum, and "Pauper Farm Crossing", which is on the crossroads of Feazel Street and Route 45. Most people recognize Dorrisville as the first 5–6 blocks north, west, and east of the Feazel Street and Barnett Street 4-way stop.<ref name="Brief" /> A large part of Dorrisville along the Barnett Street corridor and south of Main Street was destroyed in the tornado. Many houses were destroyed or had lost their roofs.
* '''[[Liberty, Saline County, Illinois|Liberty]]''' – Was a smaller rural community to the far southwest of Harrisburg along Liberty Road. It included Liberty Church and cemetery. In 1873, designer of the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, [[Green Berry Raum]] of Harrisburg, opened a slope mine on the south side of the rails near Liberty. It became the first in the county to ship coal by rail-car. The mine was called Ledford Slope, and the spot was called Liberty Crossing. Liberty is bordered by the old mining community of Ledford {{convert|3|mi|km}} south of Harrisburg, Dorrisville to the west, and Buena Vista to the north. Liberty holds the new Junior High building.<ref name="Brief" />
* '''[[Ledford, Illinois|Ledford]]''' – Ledford had been a complete town unto itself. It was the home ground of Charles Birger, and had several stores, its own school system, and a post office. Ledford was a coal mining community set up by mostly Hungarians during the 19th century. It holds a large cemetery, an historic Hungarian cemetery, and the Ledford Baptist Church. Ledford is spread across a {{convert|4|mi|km|adj=on}} span of land along Route 45 between Carrier Mills and Harrisburg, with several roads branching off to the left and right of the highway. It is all considered "Ledford".<ref name="Brief" />
[[Image:hburgfromsloan.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.3|A view towards the city as seen from far east Sloan Street near Gaskins City. At {{convert|503|ft|m}},<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.city-data.com/towers/cell-Harrisburg-Illinois.html#Antenna|title=FCC Registered Cell Phone and Antenna Towers in Harrisburg, Illinois|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> the WSIL tower, built downtown in 1953, was then one of the tallest television towers in Illinois, and is still the tallest structure in the city.<ref name="SIpast" />]]

=== Climate ===
Harrisburg has a [[humid subtropical climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Cfa''), bordering on a [[humid continental climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] ''Dfa'') with neither large mountains nor large bodies of water to moderate its temperature.<ref name="Peel">{{cite journal |author1=Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. |name-list-style=amp |year= 2007 |title= Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification |journal= Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. |volume= 11 |issue=5 |pages = 1633–1644 |doi= 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |url= http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf |issn= 1027-5606 |bibcode= 2007HESS...11.1633P|doi-access= free }}</ref> Both cold Arctic air and hot, humid tropical air from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] affect the region. The city has four distinct seasons. The highest average temperature is in July at {{convert|78.7|F|C}}, while the lowest average temperature is {{convert|33.4|F|C}} in January.<ref name="NCEI" /> However, summer temperatures can rise over {{convert|100|F|C|1|disp=or}}, and winter temperatures can drop below {{convert|0|F|C|1|disp=or}}.<ref name="NOAA" /> Average monthly precipitation ranges from a {{convert|3.10|in|mm}} in September to {{convert|5.26|in|mm}} in April, with the heaviest occurring during spring.<ref name="NOAA" /><ref name="NCEI" /> Snowfall, which normally occurs from November to April, ranges from {{convert|1|to|7|in|m|sigfig=2|disp=or}} per month.

The highest recorded temperature was {{convert|113|F|C}} on July 13, 1936, and the lowest recorded temperature was on February 2, 1951, at {{convert|-23|F|C}}.<ref name="NOAA" /> Harrisburg holds the Illinois state record high temperatures for March, September and October, and shares the January record high with [[Cahokia, Illinois|Cahokia]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Illinois: Temperature Extremes |url=https://www.infoplease.com/math-science/weather/illinois-temperature-extremes |website=Infoplease |publisher=Sandbox Networks Inc.}}</ref>
{{Weather box
| location = Harrisburg, Illinois (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1888–present)
| single line = Y
| collapsed = Y
| Jan record high F = 78
| Feb record high F = 80
| Mar record high F = 94
| Apr record high F = 96
| May record high F = 100
| Jun record high F = 106
| Jul record high F = 113
| Aug record high F = 111
| Sep record high F = 109
| Oct record high F = 98
| Nov record high F = 87
| Dec record high F = 78
| year record high F = 113
| Jan high F = 42.9
| Feb high F = 47.7
| Mar high F = 58.1
| Apr high F = 69.4
| May high F = 78.2
| Jun high F = 86.0
| Jul high F = 89.1
| Aug high F = 88.2
| Sep high F = 82.4
| Oct high F = 71.2
| Nov high F = 57.4
| Dec high F = 46.8
| year high F = 68.1
| Jan mean F = 33.4
| Feb mean F = 38.0
| Mar mean F = 47.1
| Apr mean F = 57.6
| May mean F = 67.3
| Jun mean F = 75.5
| Jul mean F = 78.7
| Aug mean F = 76.9
| Sep mean F = 69.8
| Oct mean F = 58.3
| Nov mean F = 46.8
| Dec mean F = 37.8
| year mean F = 57.3
| Jan low F = 24.0
| Feb low F = 28.3
| Mar low F = 36.1
| Apr low F = 45.7
| May low F = 56.5
| Jun low F = 65.1
| Jul low F = 68.4
| Aug low F = 65.6
| Sep low F = 57.3
| Oct low F = 45.4
| Nov low F = 36.3
| Dec low F = 28.9
| year low F = 46.5
| Jan record low F = −22
| Feb record low F = −23
| Mar record low F = -8
| Apr record low F = 22
| May record low F = 28
| Jun record low F = 40
| Jul record low F = 45
| Aug record low F = 41
| Sep record low F = 23
| Oct record low F = 18
| Nov record low F = -3
| Dec record low F = −11
| year record low F = -23
| precipitation colour = green
| Jan precipitation inch = 3.79
| Feb precipitation inch = 3.13
| Mar precipitation inch = 4.90
| Apr precipitation inch = 5.26
| May precipitation inch = 4.31
| Jun precipitation inch = 4.92
| Jul precipitation inch = 3.49
| Aug precipitation inch = 3.58
| Sep precipitation inch = 3.10
| Oct precipitation inch = 3.76
| Nov precipitation inch = 3.97
| Dec precipitation inch = 3.38
| year precipitation inch = 47.59
| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in
| Jan precipitation days = 7.8
| Feb precipitation days = 6.3
| Mar precipitation days = 8.9
| Apr precipitation days = 10.9
| May precipitation days = 9.4
| Jun precipitation days = 7.9
| Jul precipitation days = 6.9
| Aug precipitation days = 6.0
| Sep precipitation days = 6.3
| Oct precipitation days = 6.2
| Nov precipitation days = 7.6
| Dec precipitation days = 8.1
| year precipitation days = 92.3
| source 1 = [[NOAA]]<ref name = NOAA >{{cite web
| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=pah
| title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = July 26, 2021
| archive-date = August 3, 2021
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210803040334/https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=pah
| url-status = dead
}}</ref><ref name=NCEI>
{{cite web
| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00113879&format=pdf
| title = Station: Harrisburg, IL
| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020)
| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
| access-date = July 26, 2021}}</ref>
}}

==== Natural disasters ====

===== Flood risks =====
Flooding along the [[Ohio River]], causing back flow of the middle fork of the [[Saline River (Illinois)|Saline River]] has plagued Harrisburg over the years.<ref name="aftertheflood">{{cite news | url = http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1683627005/Jim-Brown-Flooding-is-a-continual-problem-for-the-region | format = Text| title = Flooding Continuing Problem, Jim Brown | date = March 17, 2009 | access-date = April 6, 2009 | work = [[The Daily Register|Harrisburg Daily Register]] }}</ref> The city was flooded in 1883–1884 and again in 1913.<ref name="100 years" /> The most severe came during the [[Ohio River flood of 1937]] when much of the city, except "Crusoes' Island", a downtown orbit that encircled the town square, was underwater. High water had reached {{convert|30|mi|km}} from the river, and the city was flooded in its position among tributary lowlands.<ref name="FLOOD">{{cite book|title=The Ohio-Mississippi valley flood disaster of 1937: Report of relief operations of the American Red cross|first=Norman|last=Davis|publisher=American Red Cross|page=79|year=1938}}</ref> 10,000 out of the 16,000 residents were left stranded on the crowded "island" for weeks, while the other 80% of Harrisburg was completely inundated. By the time the flood waters had receded, 4000 were left [[homeless]].<ref name="The Pittsburgh Press page 50" /> Between [[Gallatin County, Illinois|Gallatin County]] and Harrisburg, about {{convert|25|mi|km}} of [[Illinois Route 13]] was covered by {{convert|8.0|to|14.0|ft|m}} of water; motorboats navigated the entire distance to rescue marooned families.<ref name="descriptive">{{cite book|title=Illinois, a Descriptive and Historical Guide|first=Harold|last=Hitchens|publisher=US History Publishers|page=436|year=1947}}</ref> National guard boats were the means of transportation in the city, and several thousand people were transported daily from temporary island to island.<ref>{{cite book|title=An Illinois reader|first=Clyde|last=Walton|publisher=Northern Illinois University Press|page=431|year=1970}}</ref> According to the [[Sanborn Map Company]], Harrisburg in October 1925 had a population of 15,000, and in a revised version by January 1937 the population had fallen to 13,000.<ref name="SANBORN" /> After that, a [[levee]] was erected north and east of the city for protection from future floods. The levee became the unofficial northern and eastern border of the town. No businesses or residences exist in the [[Saline River (Illinois)|Saline River]] Middle Fork [[floodplain]]s.<ref name="USflood">{{cite book|title=Flood Protection Project, Harrisburg, Illinois|first=Lester|last=Rhodes|publisher=War Dept., U.S. Engineer Office|page=123|year=1939}}</ref> Flooding reoccurred in January 1982 due to drainage problems from the frozen ground, and in 1983, due to {{convert|8|in|mm}} of rain. The Pankey Branch pumping system, on the east side of town, was built to handle flooding from the [[Saline River (Illinois)|Saline River]] only, and has serious complex watershed technical problems, causing continual water backup within the levee during large rain events. The city rebuilt a new pumping system and requested the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] to certify the levee.<ref name="aftertheflood" />

===== Flood of 2008 =====
{{Main|Spring 2008 Midwest floods}}

In Saline County, a preliminary estimate indicated $16.8&nbsp;million in damage caused by {{convert|11.5|in|mm}} of rain on March 18–19, 2008. At least 30&nbsp;homes and 44&nbsp;businesses had water over the first floor.<ref name="aftertheflood" /> Many business owners faced quite a task as they assessed the damage and began cleaning up. Others were able to reopen fairly quickly after suffering only minimal damage or waiting for flood waters to recede so that customers could reach their businesses. Harrisburg officials reported 74&nbsp;businesses affected by flooding, Businesses along Commercial Street ([[U.S. Route 45]]), were hardest hit. [[Kroger]], which had just undergone a major renovation, reportedly had {{convert|2|ft|m|1}} or more of water inside.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4451&type=top |format=Text |title=After the Flood |date=March 24, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |work=[[WSIL-TV]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080328175644/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4451&type=top |archive-date=March 28, 2008 }}</ref> The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] denied flood recovery grants and loans to [[Illinois]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4740&type=top |format=Text |title=Southern Illinois Denied Help From FEMA |date=September 7, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |work=WSIL-TV |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006005455/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4740&type=top |archive-date=October 6, 2008 }}</ref> Flooding in the city was being called the worst in 71&nbsp;years.<ref name="Woes">{{cite news|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4499&type=top |format=Text |title=Grocery Store Woes |date=March 24, 2008 |access-date=April 6, 2009 |work=WSIL-TV |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006005450/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=4499&type=top |archive-date=October 6, 2008 }}</ref>

===== 2012 tornado =====
{{Main|2012 Leap Day tornado outbreak}}

[[File:Harrisburg Tornado 01 163338 Walmart strip mall and telephone cans.jpg|thumb|right|Destroyed shopping center in Harrisburg in the wake of the Tornadoes]]

Spawned by a weather system that had originated in [[Kansas]], an EF-4 tornado slammed into Harrisburg early on the morning of February 29, 2012. The tornado touched down just north of [[Carrier Mills, Illinois|Carrier Mills]] at 4:51&nbsp;am, destroyed a church and damaged houses along Town Park Road, and then traveled ENE through the Harrisburg Coal Field just north of [[Ledford, Illinois|Ledford]], and then went through [[Liberty, Illinois|Liberty]], where it damaged Harrisburg Middle School.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/307338/3/Harrisburg-damage-not-limited-to-homes-and-businesses|title=Harrisburg Middle School suffered tornado damage – ksdk.com|work=ksdk.com|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104055340/http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/307338/3/Harrisburg-damage-not-limited-to-homes-and-businesses|archive-date=January 4, 2013}}</ref> The tornado then reached the south-western edge of the city at 4:56&nbsp;am, specifically Dorrisville, which suffered significant property damage, and then churned eastward to Gaskins City which was nearly leveled; seven people were confirmed dead in that area, most killed in an apartment complex that was crushed by another residence, and 110 were injured overall.<ref name="dailyregister.com" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kfvs12.com/story/17042746/storm-reports-from-nws|title=5 confirmed tornadoes in the Heartland – KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff|author=Christy Hendricks|date=February 29, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614094349/http://www.kfvs12.com/story/17042746/storm-reports-from-nws|archive-date=June 14, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite news|title=Storm toll in Illinois lowered to 6 dead from 10 – governor's office|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-tornadoes-illinoisl2e8dt7z9-20120229,0,3095124.story|access-date=February 29, 2012 | work=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> On June 3, another victim died in the hospital from their injuries, raising the death toll to 8.<ref>{{cite news|title=Harrisburg tornado death total now stands at 8 |url=http://www.cbs46.com/story/18678970/harrisburg-tornado-death-total-now-stands-at-8 |access-date=April 25, 2016 |agency=WGCL-TV |date=June 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425163905/http://www.cbs46.com/story/18678970/harrisburg-tornado-death-total-now-stands-at-8 |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |location=Harrisburg, Illinois |url-status=dead}}</ref> Harrisburg Medical Center was also significantly damaged in Gaskins City.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_030112_tornado&domain=AHANEWS|title=Tornado damages Illinois hospital|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913124704/http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS%2FAHANewsNowArticle%2Fdata%2Fann_030112_tornado&domain=AHANEWS|archive-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> Peak winds were estimated to have been about 180&nbsp;mph, and the width of the tornado path was 275 yards, traveling 26.5 miles. In Harrisburg, more than 200 houses, and about 25 businesses were destroyed or damaged heavily. At least 10 houses and other buildings were leveled completely, and several structures were displaced from their foundations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x570343880/National-Weather-Service-updates-tornado-statistics|title=National Weather Service updates tornado statistics – News – The Daily Register – Harrisburg, Illinois |work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> Early estimates indicated nearly 40% of the city was damaged or destroyed. The following night, a mandatory curfew was enforced in the effected areas, from 6 p.m. through 6&nbsp;am.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Scott Fitzgerald |title='We will rebuild': Harrisburg mayor vows town will become stronger |url=http://thesouthern.com/news/local/we-will-rebuild-harrisburg-mayor-vows-town-will-become-stronger/article_6d2f09bc-635c-11e1-8db9-0019bb2963f4.html |access-date=April 25, 2016 |agency=The Southern Illinoisan |date=March 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425165243/http://thesouthern.com/news/local/we-will-rebuild-harrisburg-mayor-vows-town-will-become-stronger/article_6d2f09bc-635c-11e1-8db9-0019bb2963f4.html |archive-date=April 25, 2016 |location=Harrisburg, Illinois |url-status=dead}}</ref> Counting the damage and death toll, it was reported to be the worst storm since the [[Joplin, Missouri]], tornado.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11612300-harrisburg-illinois-tornado-one-of-the-worst-tornadoes-since-joplin-disaster|title=Harrisburg, Illinois tornado one of the worst tornadoes since Joplin disaster|date=February 29, 2012|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304033918/http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/11612300-harrisburg-illinois-tornado-one-of-the-worst-tornadoes-since-joplin-disaster|archive-date=March 4, 2012}}</ref> Harrisburg Unit 3 schools were closed until March 5, 2012, and later they offered trauma counseling to students after reopening.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/topstories/x1785609781/Unit-3-schools-provide-trauma-counseling-to-students|title=Unit No. 3 schools provide trauma counseling to students – News – The Daily Register – Harrisburg, Illinois|work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414034200/http://www.dailyregister.com/topstories/x1785609781/Unit-3-schools-provide-trauma-counseling-to-students|archive-date=April 14, 2012}}</ref>

The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] and IEMA{{clarify|date=November 2012}} began doing preliminary damage assessments on March 5, 2012, to determine the need for public assistance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailyregister.com/news/x1785610593/FEMA-IEMA-officials-begin-conducting-damage-assessments|title=FEMA, IEMA officials begin conducting damage assessments – News – The Daily Register – Harrisburg, Illinois – Harrisburg, Illinois|work=The Daily Register|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> The storm damage in Harrisburg dominated national airwaves for several days, with both [[Anderson Cooper]] and [[Diane Sawyer]] doing special reports.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tv.com/shows/abc-world-news-with-diane-sawyer/harrisburg-illinois-devastated-by-tornadoes-2400488/|title=ABC World News with Diane Sawyer – Season 201202, Episode 02.29.12: Harrisburg, Illinois, Devastated by Tornadoes – TV.com|author=TV.com|work=TV.com|access-date=September 13, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913123845/http://www.tv.com/shows/abc-world-news-with-diane-sawyer/harrisburg-illinois-devastated-by-tornadoes-2400488/|archive-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/106168900754103197479/posts/Aqu2xb2Gyup|title=Tonight, tragic stories of losing loved ones and also incredible tales of...|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref> Both ''[[The New York Times]]'' and ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' published articles about the resilient history and nature of Harrisburg to rebound from the tornado and floods that have hit the city since its founding in 1889.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/us/in-illinois-tornados-devastation-sinks-in.html | work=The New York Times | first=Monica | last=Davey | title=Southern Illinois Town Is All Too Versed in Taking a Hit | date=March 1, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-il--severeweather-harrisburgrecovery,0,5372186.story | work=Chicago Tribune | title=Topic Galleries}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
| 1860 = 453
| 1870 = 590
| 1880 = 934
| 1890 = 1723
| 1900 = 2202
| 1910 = 10749
| 1920 = 15054
| 1930 = 15659
| 1940 = 11453
| 1950 = 10999
| 1960 = 9171
| 1970 = 9535
| 1980 = 10410
| 1990 = 9289
| 2000 = 9860
| 2010 = 9017
| 2020 = 8219
| align-fn = center
| footnote = [https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html U.S. Decennial Census]
}}

At the time of the 2020 census,<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/Harrisburg_city,_Illinois?g=160XX00US1733136 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=17 March 2025}}</ref> there were 8,219 people living within the city. The median household income was $48,488, with a median household income of $82,353 for married-couple families, $64,100 for all families, and $28,929 for non-family households. The poverty rate was 25.1%, compared with a poverty rate of 11.6% for Illinois as a whole. About 20% of residents had a bachelor's degree or higher, and the median age was 37.5. Of the 7,718 people who identified with a single race, 7,115 (92%) were white, 386 (3.7%) were black or African-American, 90 (1.2%) were Asian American, and 28 (0.4%) were Native American. Some 50% of residents were employed, compared with 62% of residents of Illinois as a whole.

According to the 2010 census,<ref name="GR2">{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=January 31, 2008 |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref> there were 9,017 people living within the city limits. Of the 8,765 persons who identified with one race, 7,983 (88.5%) were white, 589 (6.5%) were black or African-American, 45 (0.5%) American Indian, 74 (0.8%) Asian, 8 (0.1%) Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders, and 66 (0.8%) who claimed some other race. The Hispanic population was 209 (2.3%). There were 4,193 total housing units; 3,753 (89.5%) were occupied and 440 (10.5%) vacant.

==Media==
''[[The Daily Register]]'', based in Harrisburg, has been providing coverage of news for southeastern Illinois since 1869, and is owned by [[GateHouse Media]].<ref name="Newspaper2">{{cite web | url=http://www.mondotimes.com/1/world/us/13/767/2013| title=Daily Register | publisher=GateHouse Media, Inc| year=2009 | access-date=April 20, 2009}}</ref> It is the major daily newspaper serving Harrisburg, Saline County, and distributes to [[Paducah, Kentucky]], [[Cape Girardeau, Missouri]], and [[Mount Vernon, Illinois]]. The second major newspaper is ''[[The Daily Register|The Eldorado Daily Journal]]'', based in [[Eldorado, Illinois|Eldorado]]<ref name="Newspaper">{{cite web | url=http://www.echomedia.com/MediaDetailNP.asp?IDNumber=6619 | title=Echo Media Harrisburg Register & Eldorado Journal | publisher=ECHO MEDIA| year=2005 | access-date=April 20, 2009}}</ref> and operated by GateHouse as a sister newspaper to the ''Register''. Newspapers are also delivered into the city from as far away as [[Evansville, Indiana|Evansville]], Chicago, and [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]]. It is often included in the [[Illinois–Indiana–Kentucky tri-state area]].

Harrisburg has one television station licensed directly to the city; [[WSIL-TV]]. Broadcasting on channel 3, it is the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate for a wide area of southern Illinois, western Kentucky and southeastern Missouri. The station's studios reside in nearby [[Carterville, Illinois|Carterville]].<ref name="TV">{{cite web | url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/job_openings.php | title=WSIL-TV | publisher=WSIL| year=2009 | access-date=April 20, 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090321035256/http://www.wsiltv.com/p/job_openings.php <!--Added by H3llBot--> | archive-date=March 21, 2009}}</ref> There is one major AM broadcasting station in Harrisburg, WEBQ 1240 (also on 93.7 FM), now a country music station that has broadcast news and music to the region since the 1930s, its FM sister station (WEBQ-FM) is a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate and airs an adult standards format. WOOZ 99.9 FM Z100, operating a country format, is also licensed to the city, with studios in nearby Carterville.

==Government, healthcare, and education==
Harrisburg is the county seat of [[Saline County, Illinois|Saline County]] with a mayor and council form of government. The city has four main council members. The city has a Police Department that shares a building with the Sheriff's department with 13 sworn officers and a civilian secretary. The City of Harrisburg Fire Department has 1 Chief 9 full-time union firefighters and 15 paid per call members. All fulltime firefighters are trained Emergency Medical Technicians running a BLS Ambulance. Working out of a central station built in 1991 It houses three engines, a 75&nbsp;ft ladder truck, a heavy rescue, a 4×4 brush truck, a 3000-gallon tanker, 2 side by sides, and 2 boats.

The City of Harrisburg operates its own [[water distribution system]]. It has a storage capacity of {{convert|6000000|USgal|e6L|abbr=off}} in elevated tanks. The water processing plant has a capacity of 4,000,000 per day, while average daily consumption is about 2,500,000 gallons. The city's water treatment plant has a design capacity of 3,125,000 gallons per day. Its average load is {{convert|1200000|USgal|e6L|abbr=off}} per day.<ref name="prof"/>

Harrisburg Hospital was at one time located in a four-story complex one block from the town square,<ref name="100 years"/> but in the 1990s moved to Harrisburg Medical Center where 71 beds<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.harrisburgmc.com/about-us/|title=About Us : Harrisburg Medical Center|language=en-US|access-date=April 28, 2019|archive-date=April 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428020345/http://www.harrisburgmc.com/about-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and 34 physicians are on staff. It also has an 18-bed psychiatric area. In 1995, the hospital completed a multimillion-dollar expansion and renovation program. There are 25 nursing homes in the Harrisburg and southeastern Illinois area. Three are located within the city. Harrisburg also has several clinics, and specialized physicians have offices within the city.<ref name="prof"/>

Harrisburg Community Unit School District 3 serves the city's student population with two K-6 elementary schools, a junior high school, and a senior high school. More than 2,300 students are enrolled in the district's schools. More than 1,300 students attend East Side and West Side Elementary schools. Malan Junior High was the main middle school for the city until 2005 when the new middle school was built in Liberty, which has 300 students enrolled. Harrisburg High School has more than 600 students enrolled. The city has seven preschools and daycare centers.<ref name="prof"/> Harrisburg once had several schools within the township before the different neighborhoods were annexed, all are now closed down, a few are, Horace Mann, McKinley School, Bayliss School, Phillips School, and Ledford school.<ref name="100 years"/>

===Higher education===
[[Southeastern Illinois College]] is a two-year [[junior college]] that sits on a {{convert|148|acre|ha|adj=on}} campus east of the city limits. SIC enrolls more than 2,000 students each semester in college transfer and career education programs. SIC was founded in 1960. Other nearby local colleges and universities are [[Southern Illinois University]] campus at Carbondale; [[John A. Logan College]], at Carterville; [[Rend Lake College]], at Ina; [[Eastern Illinois University]], at Charleston; [[Shawnee Community College]] at Ullin; and the [[University of Evansville]], at Evansville, Indiana.<ref name="prof"/>

==Transportation==
[[Rides Mass Transit District]] provides fixed-route and demand-response transit service in Harrisburg and the surrounding region. The Bulldog Route is the fixed-route bus service that operates within Harrisburg Monday-Saturday.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ridesmtd.com/counties/saline-county/|title=RMTD Saline County|access-date=October 4, 2023|archive-date=October 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231004055429/https://www.ridesmtd.com/counties/saline-county/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The New York Central Big Four line between Danville and Cairo served Harrisburg. It was abandoned south of Paris.

== Popular culture ==
* ''[[The Good Wife (season 3)|The Good Wife]]'' – Season 3, Episode 21 – "The Penalty Box". Character Judge Murphy Wicks, played by actor [[Stephen Root]], lived in Harrisburg, the Gateway to the Shawnee National Forest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2223407/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_74|title="The Good Wife" The Penalty Box|website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

==Notable people==
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· The fact of their association should have a reliable source cited.
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{{div col}}
* [[William Badders]], [[US Navy]] sailor, [[Medal of Honor]] recipient
* [[Charlie Birger]], notorious gangster<ref>The Legend of Charlie Birger  – WSIU-TV documentary (2003)</ref>
* [[John E. Bradley]], state representative<ref>[http://www.ilga.gov/house/rep.asp?MemberID=1913 Illinois General Assembly-John E. Bradley]</ref>
* [[Danny Fife]], MLB pitcher for the [[Minnesota Twins]]
* [[James D. Fowler]]. state representative<ref>'Illinois Blue Book 2001–2002,' Biographical Sketch of Jim Fowler, pg. 130</ref>
* [[Virginia Gregg]], actress, born in Harrisburg (1916), known as the voice of Norman Bates' mother in ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/40/Virginia-Gregg.html|title=Virginia Gregg Biography|access-date=September 13, 2014}}</ref>
* [[Chuck Hunsinger]], running back for the [[Chicago Bears]] and the [[Montreal Alouettes]]<ref>Toronto Star, Wednesday November 27, 1968, page 14, Jim Kernaghan column.</ref>
* [[John H. Pickering]], founding partner of the law firm [[Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering]]<ref>New York Times, March 22, 2005, "John H. Pickering, 89, a Founder of a Leading U.S. Law Firm, Is Dead"</ref>
* [[Mason Ramsey]], Walmart Yodeling Kid
* [[Green Berry Raum|General Green Berry Raum]], Civil War general, and president of the [[Cairo and Vincennes Railroad]]
* [[John Romonosky]], 1950s baseball player, [[St. Louis Cardinals]] and [[Washington Senators (1901–60)|Washington Senators]]<ref>{{cite web| title=John Romonosky Statistics and History |  url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/romonjo01.shtml?redir | access-date=April 6, 2009}}</ref>
* [[Dale Swann]], character actor born in the Harrisburg<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|first=Kathie|last=Bassett|title=Charactor actor Dale Swann dies|url=http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/swann_25681___article.html/dale_alton.html|work=[[The Telegraph (Alton)]]|date=April 14, 2009|access-date=April 18, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418165814/http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/swann_25681___article.html/dale_alton.html|archive-date=April 18, 2009}}</ref>
* [[H. B. Tanner]], state representative and businessman.<ref>'Illinois Blue Book 1965–1966,' Biographical Sketch of H. B. Tanner, pg. 296–297</ref>
* [[Henry Turner (endocrinologist)|Henry Turner]], physician who first described [[Turner syndrome]]<ref>A Tribute to Henry H. Turner, M.D. (1892–1970): A Pioneer Endocrinologist. The Endocrinologist 14(4) 179–184, July–August 2004, G. Bradley Schaefer, MD, and Harris D. Riley Jr., MD</ref>
* [[Oral P. Tuttle]], Illinois, state senator and lawyer<ref>'Illinois Blue Book 1937–1938,' Biographical Sketch of Oral P. Tuttle, pg. 234–235</ref>
* [[Stanley B. Weaver]]. Illinois state legislator and funeral director, was born in Harrisburg.<ref>'Former Urbana mayor and longtime legislator dies,' '''The News-Gazette,''' J. Philip Bloomer, November 12, 2003</ref>
{{div col end}}

==See also==
* [[Coal-mining region]]
* [[History of coal mining in the United States]]
* [[List of coalfields]]
* [[Mill town]]
* [[Rust Belt]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Collier's poster|Harrisburg (Illinois)|Harrisburg, Illinois}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120701030347/http://salinecountychamber.org/ Saline County Chamber of Commerce]
* [http://www.sirpdc.org/ Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development Council]
* [http://thecityofharrisburgil.com/ Harrisburg Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125133259/http://thecityofharrisburgil.com/ |date=November 25, 2020 }}
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Harrisburg (Illinois)|display=Harrisburg. A city and the county seat of Saline County, Ill.|short=x}}

{{Saline County, Illinois}}
{{Southern-Illinois}}
{{Illinois county seats}}

{{Good article}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Harrisburg, Illinois| ]]
[[Category:Cities in Illinois]]
[[Category:Cities in Saline County, Illinois]]
[[Category:County seats in Illinois]]
[[Category:Mining communities in Illinois]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1847]]
[[Category:1847 establishments in Illinois]]