Beckemeyer is a village in Wade Township, Clinton County, Illinois, United States. The population was 923 as of the 2020 census. History Samuel B. Watkins was reported to be the first settler in the area, circa 1817. Beckemeyer began as a way station on the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. It was organized and laid out in 1866 and originally named "Buxton" in honor of a railroad attorney. A large coal seam underlying the village and surrounding area was mined starting in 1894, resulting in growth of Buxton. It was renamed "Beckemeyer" after an election held in 1905. The first school and bank were opened in 1906. On 25 March 1947, the Centralia Coal mine exploded killing 111 people. Nine of the people killed were citizens of Beckemeyer. In 1997 a memorial was built in Beckemeyer, the memorial called "Miners Memorial Park" is dedicated to the miners from Beckemeyer that died in the explosion. On 7 February 1976, a train crashed into a truck going 56 mph killing 12 people including 11 children, and left another four injured. The accident was the worst in Clinton County History. A Zinc smelter plant called Circle Smelting Corp operated in the village from 1904 to 1994, in 1993 a study indicated the town was highly contaminated with over 10,000 cubic yards of industrial waste high in lead content from the industry. In 1994 the EPA forced the plant to shut down and declared it a Superfund site. About 35,000 cubic yards of material was removed from over 300 properties and deposited under a concrete cover. Geography Beckemeyer is located at (38.605187, -89.435251). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Beckemeyer has a total area of , all land. Demographics As of the 2020 census there were 923 people, 448 households, and 270 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 423 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 91.22% White, 0.33% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 2.17% from other races, and 5.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.53% of the population. There were 448 households, out of which 42.86% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.44% were married couples living together, 7.14% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.73% were non-families. 33.93% of all households were