Millstadt is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, located at the crossing of Illinois Routes 163 (locally, "Jefferson Avenue") and 158 (locally, "Washington Avenue"). The village is known for its German heritage, with more than half its people of German descent. The population was 4,011 at the 2010 census, but a more recent study in July 2018 estimated the number at 3,885. History During a barn raising in 1836, it was proposed that a town be incorporated on land belonging to Henry Randleman. The name "Centerville" was proposed, as the site was equidistant from Belleville, Columbia, and Pittsburg Lake. The town was platted on March 13, 1837. In 1880, its name was changed to Millstadt, as the name Centreville was in use by another nearby town. Another account (Millstadt School website): "The story of how Millstadt developed out of 'Centerville' goes something like this. The current Centreville and our Centerville each had a post offices through which a great deal of mail became confused and mis-delivered. Our town's forefathers, upon applying for formal organization through the state, supposedly decided on the name 'Mittlestadt' or 'Middlestadt,' which means literally 'center city'; somehow the state misread the writing and sent back the papers reading 'Millstadt.' As you can guess, the governing group decided to keep that name as we had several mills at that time and the name fit." In 1874, a German immigrant farm family was killed in a farming hamlet known as Saxtown, just south of the town. It made national headlines and became the subject of the book The Ax Murders of Saxtown. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 2,794 people, 1,148 households, and 813 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 1,196 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 99% White, 0% Native American, 1% Asian, 0% from other races, and 0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0% of the population. There were 1,148 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 25.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The