Editing Waterloo, Illinois (section)

==Geography==
Waterloo is located northeast of the center of Monroe County at {{Coord|38|20|7|N|90|9|10|W|type:city}} (38.335243, -90.152685).<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=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref> [[Illinois Route 3]] passes through the west side of the city, bypassing the downtown; it leads north {{convert|8|mi|0}} to [[Columbia, Illinois|Columbia]] and southeast {{convert|13|mi}} to [[Red Bud, Illinois|Red Bud]]. Downtown [[St. Louis]] is {{convert|24|mi}} to the north. [[Illinois Route 156]] passes through the city on Park Street, South Church Street, West 4th Street, South Market Street, and Front Street, leading {{convert|9|mi|0}} to [[Hecker, Illinois|Hecker]] and west {{convert|7|mi|0}} to [[Valmeyer, Illinois|Valmeyer]].

According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], Waterloo has a total area of {{convert|8.31|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|8.18|sqmi|sqkm|2}} are land and {{convert|0.13|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, or 1.61%, are water.<ref name="CenPopGazetteer2022"/> The city sits on a ridge that drains east to tributaries of Prairie du Long Creek and west to tributaries of Fountain Creek. Prairie du Long Creek is a southeast-flowing tributary of the [[Kaskaskia River]], while Fountain Creek is a west-flowing direct tributary of the [[Mississippi River]]. Waterloo is along the historic trail that went from [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]] to St. Louis.