Biohazard and Pathogen Disinfection in Athens, IL

Athens is a city in southeastern Menard County, Illinois, about 14 miles north of Springfield, and it is part of the Springfield metropolitan area; its name is pronounced AY-thanz.

Athens is Menard County's oldest town, laid out on September 7, 1831, by Harry Riggin and Abner Hall.

Colonel Matthew Rogers, a former New York militia leader, settled near Athens around 1820, built the area's first cabin of sawn lumber, and established its first post office in his home on January 2, 1828.

Rogers moved the post office into his new general store building in 1831; restored in 1972, that building still stands as a museum honoring the young Abraham Lincoln.

Abraham Lincoln, then living at nearby New Salem, borrowed books from Colonel Rogers - including the Kirkham's Grammar copy now held by the Library of Congress - came to Athens to collect New Salem's mail when the Sangamon River flooded, and surveyed the Post Road past Rogers' store in 1834, using a survey point that still remains.

On August 3, 1837, the citizens of Athens held a banquet for Lincoln and the eight other legislators known as the Long Nine, who had succeeded in moving the Illinois state capital from Vandalia to Springfield.

Menard County itself was created on February 15, 1839, under legislation sponsored by state representative Abraham Lincoln, and was named for Pierre Menard, the first lieutenant governor of Illinois.

Athens had a population of 1,977 at the 2020 census, living in 774 households, and more than 40 percent of its households include children under 18.

Athens Community Park offers baseball diamonds, outdoor basketball hoops, and a youth football field, and the city also has a sports complex used for baseball, softball, football, track and field, and cross country.

Athens sits about 4 miles north of the northern end of the Sangamon Valley Trail, near the Sangamon River.