Editing Swansea, Illinois (section)

== History ==
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2012}}
In the late 19th century the area that is now Swansea was a mix of farming and commerce. It was home to underground coal mines, foundries, brickyards, and the Gundlach Drill Works, manufacturers of the most efficient grain drills of that era.  The early residents were fiercely independent and bent on conducting their own affairs.  When the municipality that sat on their doorstep reached out to annex their lands and businesses they decided to start their own community.

On November 27, 1886, a group of 35 area residents petitioned the county government "that they are desirous of having said territory organized as a village...That the name of the proposed village shall be New Swansea."

The residents voted on December 16, 1886, to form their own community and name it “New Swansea”. A petition for annexation to the city of [[Belleville, Illinois|Belleville]] was being circulated in the territory. Establishing an independent community was a quick and effective method of avoiding annexation. And so a new municipality was incorporated on December 20, 1886.  In 1898 the lot at the corner of Brackett and Illinois Streets was purchased for $300.  The Village Hall was completed shortly thereafter at a cost of $619.50.