maintained in Frankfort Heights until its destruction by fire in 2004, making West Frankfort one of the smallest cities in the United States to have two ZIP codes (the other zip code is designated as "Frankfort Heights, Illinois"). Beginning in 1904, the Deering Coal Mine Company took Franklin County and West Frankfort from no coal production in 1900 to being the #1 coal producer in Illinois by 1917. Once the mines opened, the population increased 3,500 in seven years. By 1927, West Frankfort's population had reached 19,896. In the late 1940s, four theatres and a minor league baseball team (see below) marked the downtown area. Tri-State Tornado of 1925 1929 coal mine explosion On December 1, 1929, an explosion at the Old Ben Coal Company's Old Ben No. 8 Mine killed 7 people. 1947 coal mine explosion The Old Ben No. 8 Mine exploded again on July 24, 1947, killing 27 people. West Frankfort Cardinals The West Frankfort Cardinals were a minor-league baseball team from 1947 to 1950, serving as a Class D affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. 1951 coal mine explosion The Orient No. 2 coal mine exploded on December 21, 1951, killing 119 men. The mine, located outside of West Frankfort, was one of the area's major employers. According to lifelong residents, everyone in West Frankfort was affected by this tragedy, including grade schoolers of the time who remember their own losses or the suffering of classmates. Many residents had even said they could never celebrate Christmas again. After the catastrophe, the West Frankfort Junior High School became a temporary morgue for identification of the bodies, with many calls going out for funeral directors. The explosion received national attention from the wire services, newspapers and Life Magazine. Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson visited the site to support those mourning. The United States Bureau of Mines called the explosion "avoidable," with the disaster resulting in Congress passing the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952. In 2020, after years of planning and funding, locals unveiled a new $40,000 memorial monument in Coal Miners Memorial Park, which reads the names of all 119 men killed in the disaster. Eclipse crossroads of America The area was in totality during the solar eclipse of August 21, 2017, with Giant City State Park, approximately to the southwest, experiencing the longest period of totality during the eclipse (approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds). It