dead, six were security guards. Furthermore, had the strikers won the battle, their intentions toward the Alabama strikebreakers were not friendly. After twenty minutes of firing on both sides, the train's engineer accepted defeat and the engine and part of the train pulled away from the minehead and continued northward to Springfield. A monument in the Virden town square commemorates the coal strike of 1898 and the battle of October 12 that was its bitter end. The monument contains a large bronze bas-relief that includes the names of those killed, and a copy of a mendacious recruiting handbill distributed by the Chicago-Virden Company in Birmingham, Alabama, to recruit the African-American miners. The body of the bas-relief is made of symbolic representations of the Chicago & Alton tracks and the assault on the strikers. The guards are shown pointing their Winchesters at the strikers and their families. Atop the bas-relief is a bronze portrait of Mary Harris Jones ("Mother Jones"), who is buried in nearby Mount Olive. Geography Virden is located at (39.504, -89.768). Most of the city lies in the northeast corner of Macoupin County, with a small portion extending north into Sangamon County. In the 2000 census, 3,378 of the city's 3,488 residents (96.8%) lived in Macoupin County and 110 (3.2%) lived in Sangamon County. Illinois Route 4 passes through the city as Springfield Street, leading southwest to Carlinville, the Macoupin county seat, and northeast to Springfield, the state capital. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Virden has a total area of , all land. The city drains west to Sugar Creek and east to its tributary Brush Creek. Both creeks flow to the northeast, with Sugar Creek joining the Sangamon River, a tributary of the Illinois River, east of Springfield. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 3,488 people, 1,455 households, and 934 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,609 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 98.80% White, 0.32% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.46% of the population. There were 1,455 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present,