Editing Sesser, Illinois (section)

== History ==
In summer 1904, when coal was discovered at today's Sesser, the area was a prairie covered with wheat and corn fields. By 1906, the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] had extended its lines south from [[Centralia, Illinois|Centralia]] to Sesser, and the new town was named after railroad surveyor John Sesser.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.sesser.org/city-history/|title=City History|date=2015-08-21|work=The City of Sesser, Illinois|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en-US}}</ref>

The first mine in Sesser, the Keller Mine, was sunk in 1905–1906.<ref name=":0" />

In 1906, Sesser was incorporated as a village. It re-incorporated as a city in 1909.<ref name=":0" />

Old Ben Coal Mine No. 16, also called Sesser Mine, operated from 1905 to 1923.<ref name="Hinton">{{Cite web|url=http://www.hinton-gen.com/coal/franklin_mines.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005191308/http://hinton-gen.com/coal/franklin_mines.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=October 5, 2018|title=Illinois Coal & Coal Mining, History & Genealogy - Coal Mines of Franklin County, Illinois|last=Hinton|first=Wayne|website=Wayne's World of History & Genealogy|language=en|access-date=2018-06-24}}</ref>

[[Subsidence]] resulting from [[longwall mining]] at the Old Ben No. 21 mine, by Old Ben Coal Company, was a concern for some local homeowners in the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/07/18/dream-home-falling-into-coal-mine/|title=Dream Home Falling Into Coal Mine|last=Associated Press|date=July 18, 1985|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=2018-06-25|language=en}}</ref> The No. 21 mine, opened in 1952, was idled in 1991.<ref name="Hinton"/>

The [[Sesser Opera House]], built in 1914, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/200326.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202094334/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/pdfs/200326.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 2, 2014|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Sesser Opera House|last=Cummings|first=Neysa|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=January 22, 2014}}</ref>