Blood, Trauma, and Biohazard Cleanup in Southern View, IL

Southern View is a small village in Sangamon County, Illinois, that directly abuts the south side of Springfield and is part of the Springfield metropolitan area.

Southern View was incorporated on July 17, 1939, after residents voted 117 to 30 in favor, mainly so the new village could build a water system and obtain water service from the city of Springfield.

Southern View was one of three Springfield-area villages - along with Grandview and Jerome - that incorporated in 1939 for the same reason: securing a municipal water supply.

Southern View's first village president was Minor Clark, and the new village completed its water system in the years right after incorporation.

Southern View covers only about 0.51 square miles of land, yet it maintains its own police department, its own elementary school and two parks.

Southern View had a population of 1,596 at the 2020 census, down slightly from 1,642 in 2010.

Southern View grew explosively in the postwar years, more than doubling from 433 residents in 1940 to 898 in 1950 and reaching 1,485 by 1960 as Springfield's suburbs spread south.

Local tradition, recounted by longtime residents, says the name Southern View came from women on a school committee who admired the outlook from a window and exclaimed, "Look at that southern view."

Southern View Community Park was constructed in 1986, while the village's first street lights had been installed back in 1957.