Crime Scene and Trauma Cleanup in Teutopolis, IL

Teutopolis is a village in Effingham County established in 1839 along the National Road, now U.S. Route 40, about four miles east of Effingham, the county seat.

Teutopolis means "City of the Teutons," or Germans, and it is the only town in the United States with this name.

Teutopolis was a carefully planned settlement, not an accidental trading post: German Catholic immigrants in Cincinnati, led by Clemens Uptmor, formed a land company in 1837 and bought 10,000 acres in Effingham County at $1.25 an acre in July 1839.

The village motto is "Home of the Wooden Shoes," a nod to the German heritage its residents still celebrate.

Teutopolis had 1,618 residents at the 2020 census, more than triple its population of 498 in 1900, having grown in nearly every census for over a century.

Teutopolis has around 606 households, and with an average household size of 2.97 people it has noticeably larger families than most Illinois villages.

About 97% of Teutopolis residents were White at the 2020 census, and the village remains strongly German and Catholic in character, anchored by St. Francis Church and its Franciscan monastery.

Teutopolis folk artist Ferd Metten (1893-1977) spent decades carving detailed, often mechanized wooden dioramas of rural life that were later exhibited at Eastern Illinois University.

Teutopolis households earned a median income of about $72,404, and only about 3.9% of residents lived below the poverty line at the 2020 census.

The village sits within five minutes of Interstates 57 and 70 and covers about 2.04 square miles in northeastern Effingham County.