Red Cross, Salvation Army, American Legion, VFW, and Illinois State Police had arrived to restore order and provide assistance to the citizens of Bunker Hill. The Army and National Guard established patrols to minimize looting, and the State Police set up road blocks to keep sightseers away. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Lebanon American Legion opened food stations to feed the volunteers and homeless citizens of the town. Bahn's Grocery Store donated their entire stock for the food stations. A temporary post office was opened in the lobby of the First National Bank. Local farmers brought their tractors and bulldozers to town to clear rubble and reopen the streets. By evening, the Red Cross had pitched tents in front of Meissner School to house the newly homeless citizens. 126 people were injured and 19 killed by the tornado. Property damage was estimated between four and five million dollars. All five churches in Bunker Hill were destroyed by the tornado, prompting two local ministers, Rev. Burke of the First Congregational Church and Rev. Johnson of the Baptist Church, to conduct the Easter Sunday services on March 28, 1948, using a bulldozer as a pulpit. An estimated 500 residents and volunteers gathered at the center of town for the sermons before returning to work. A brick pavilion stood in the middle of the intersection of Washington and Warren Streets prior to the tornado. The pavilion, which had been used as a bandstand for community events, was not rebuilt after the tornado, instead being replaced by a flagpole and memorial to local military veterans. Bunker Hill Military Academy Bunker Hill was the home of the Bunker Hill Military Academy toward the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The school opened in 1859 as the Bunker Hill Academy, but closed during the Civil War. From 1862 until 1869, the building housed Bunker Hill's public school. In 1883, the military academy was established in the aging building, offering strict instruction to local children as well as the cadets. The academy remained open until 1914. After the 1948 tornado, the grounds were donated to the American Legion, which built a local post and park on the site. Geography Bunker Hill is located in southern Macoupin County at (39.041452, -89.950898), in the eastern part of Bunker Hill Township. Carlinville, the Macoupin county seat, is to the north, Alton on the Mississippi River