COMING SOON: Coal City Soccer City

COMING SOON: Native communities knew that coal was beneath the land that would become Illinois well before European colonizer arrived in the 17th century. That resource, however, was not fully exploited until the mid 1800’s and towns popped up on the flatlands of Illinois like mushrooms after a storm. Many of those coal mining towns would field high quality soccer teams, and Coal City was no exception. From the late 1800’s to the 1950’s. teams such as the Coal City Maroons competed strongly against local, state, national and even international sides. This video gives only a hint of the quality that existed in Illinois coal fields.