Norris City is a village in White County, Illinois. The population was 1,275 at the 2010 census. History Norris City was incorporated in 1901. The original plat of Norris City was filed for record in the White County Courthouse in Carmi, Illinois on August 17, 1871 at 8 a.m. The post office at Norris City was established May 15, 1871, with William A. Johnson appointed as the first Postmaster. The name for Norris City had to have been decided prior to the time it was platted and prior to the opening of the post office. The question of how Norris City got its name has caused many debates throughout the years. The new community, for a short time in early 1871, was called “Popeye” or “Popeye’s Station, after William A. Johnson, the first depot agent at the site who had the nickname of Popeye. The trainmen said they were stopping at “Popeye” or “Popeye’s Station.” The story is that Mr. Johnson's eyes protruded, so he was given the nickname of Popeye. This was before the days of the Popeye cartoon character, which was created by a native of Chester, Ill.. The story is, that children going to Gum Prairie Grade School near Mr. Johnson's house gave him the nickname. The other story is that he was given the nickname by the trainmen. Stories about how Norris City got its name are varied, but the following is a result of my research: First off, it was not named after any of the aforementioned people involved in getting Norris City started and platted. This deepens the mystery. According to one story, the people of the new village got together to try to agree upon a name for it. It was decided that the name would come from the person or family having the most land in the area. After the acreages were added up, the Norris family beat out the Johnson family by just a few acres. Thus, as the story goes, it was named Norris City. William Norris was the head of the Norris family at that time so it was said to have been named after him. Another version is that a meeting was held and the railroad had been doing some business with William Norris so they decided to name the town Norris City after him. So the story goes that he went home from the meeting and told