Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Batchtown Batchtown, IL

Batchtown is a village in Richwood Precinct at the southern end of Calhoun County, Illinois — the county that forms a peninsula between the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The area around Batchtown was called Richwoods during the 1850s, then became known as Sam White's, after a leading Calhoun County merchant, before taking the name Batchelder Ville.

Batchtown is named for William Batchelder, a leading citizen of the 1860s who owned and operated a corn mill in the village that he later converted into a flour mill.

A post office opened in Batchtown in 1879, and that is when 'Batchtown' became the community's official name; the village was incorporated on June 4, 1897.

By the time of incorporation Batchtown had several stores and shops, a Grand Army of the Republic post for Civil War veterans, and its first Methodist church.

Batchtown's population peaked at 360 in the 1900 census and has slowly declined ever since, reaching 170 residents at the 2020 census, down from 214 in 2010.

Batchtown is one of the least densely populated villages in Illinois — its 170 people are spread across about 1.86 square miles, a density of only about 91 people per square mile — and its residents report predominantly German ancestry.