Cobden, Illinois facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cobden South Pass
Village
Village of Cobden, Illinois
Downtown Cobden
Location of Cobden in Union County, Illinois.
Location of Illinois in the United States
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Union
Named for	Richard Cobden
Area
• Total	1.23 sq mi (3.18 km2)
• Land	1.22 sq mi (3.16 km2)
• Water	0.01 sq mi (0.02 km2)
Elevation	607 ft (185 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,018
• Density	880.33/sq mi (339.97/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Code(s)	62920
Area code(s)	618
FIPS code	17-15300
GNIS feature ID	2398593
Wikimedia Commons	Cobden, Illinois

Cobden is a small village located in Union County, Illinois, United States. It's part of a region in Southern Illinois sometimes called "Little Egypt." In 2020, about 1,018 people lived here.

Cobden is famous for its public school mascot: the "Appleknockers." This unique name has been voted one of the most interesting high school mascots in the country! The area around Cobden is also well-known for its many wineries and orchards, like Flamm Orchards, which is just north of town.

Image of Flamm Orchards

History of Cobden

The village of Cobden is named after Richard Cobden, an important British politician who visited the town in 1859. Before that, it was sometimes called "South Pass."

Cobden started as a farming town. It grew up around the tracks of the Illinois Central Railroad, which is now owned by Canadian National Railway. It's also located along U.S. Highway 51, a main road that runs through the region.

Geography and Nature

Cobden is located at 37°32′2″N 89°15′19″W / 37.53389°N 89.25528°W / 37.53389; -89.25528. It is about 13.7 miles south of Carbondale, Illinois. You can find it just north of the towns of Anna, Illinois and Jonesboro, Illinois, right along Old U.S Highway 51. Nearby Alto Pass, Illinois is about 5.1 miles to the northwest.

According to the 2010 census, Cobden covers about 1.23 square miles (3.18 square kilometers). Most of this area is land, with a very small part being water.

Cobden is situated near the top of the Shawnee Hills. It sits in a special valley called "Cobden Col." This valley was carved out of rock by water. About 100,000 years ago, a huge sheet of ice, called the Illinoian ice sheet, covered most of Illinois. This ice sheet pushed south and climbed the Shawnee Mountains. A lake formed between the mountains and the melting glacier, and Cobden Col was where the water flowed out of this lake.

The Appleknocker Mascot

Cobden's unique mascot is the "Appleknocker." It's a drawing of a man with freckles, wearing a straw hat and chewing on a piece of straw.

This nickname started when the high school first began playing sports. They didn't have a mascot yet. Other schools made up this name to tease Cobden because the town had many peach and apple orchards.

However, the name became a proud part of the town's history. In 1964, Cobden High School played for the Illinois High School Boys Basketball Championship. Even though they lost, the "Appleknocker" name became famous and is now a symbol of the town's spirit.

Cobden Appleknocker mascot

Population Changes

In 2000, there were 1,116 people living in Cobden. There were 421 households, which are groups of people living together. About 30.6% of these households had children under 18. Many households were married couples, and some were single parents or other types of families.

The population included people of different backgrounds. About 51.3% of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino.

The average age of people in the village was 40 years old. About 25.2% of the population was under 18, and 17.9% were 65 or older.

Notable People

• Mary Tracy Earle (1864-1955), an author who lived in Cobden.

See also

In Spanish: Cobden (Illinois) para niños