Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Makanda, IL

Makanda is a village in Jackson County in deep southern Illinois, pronounced "muh-KAN-duh," within the Carbondale micropolitan area.

The village was named after Makanda, a local Native American chieftain.

In the early 20th century Makanda promoted itself with the slogan "Star of Egypt," a nod to southern Illinois's longtime "Little Egypt" nickname.

The 2020 census counted 547 people and 195 households in Makanda, spread across 5.33 square miles — a density of only about 103 people per square mile.

Makanda was the longtime home of Paul Simon, the U.S. Senator and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate; after his death in 2003, the village painted a bow tie — his trademark — onto its smiley-face water tower in his honor.

Makanda sits at a rare astronomical crossroads: the center lines of the paths of totality of both the August 21, 2017 and April 8, 2024 total solar eclipses crossed in the village.

Giant City State Park, famous for its massive sandstone bluffs and rock formations, lies in Makanda Township just outside the village.

Makanda's historic downtown Boardwalk is lined with local artisan retail shops, and the village hosts the Makanda Spring Fest and the October Vulture Fest, which celebrates the seasonal migration of black and turkey vultures.

During the Civil War, brothers Theodore and Al Thompson flew the Union flag from a tree atop a hill between Makanda and Cobden, in defiance of the pro-Confederate Knights of the Golden Circle operating in the region.

Makanda's population bottomed out at 164 in 1960 before rebounding as artists, commuters and Southern Illinois University families discovered the area.