Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Lovilia, IA

Lovilia is a city in Monroe County in south-central Iowa that was laid out in 1853, when its name was spelled 'Lovilla.'

Lovilia's post office opened in 1849, four years before the town site was even platted.

Lovilia grew into a coal town, with scattered 'country mines' working the coal seams north and south of town in the early 1900s.

On March 30, 1953, a dust explosion at the O'Brien Mine near Lovilia killed the two miners who had fired the end-of-shift blasting shots, and three more men died from bad air when they went underground to investigate.

As late as 1972, the Lovilia Coal Company was operating one of the last two underground coal mines in Iowa, employing 21 workers and producing 245,000 tons of coal that year.

In 1985, Lovilia's Star Coal Company was the largest employer in Monroe County with 150 employees, and its production of about 500,000 tons a year amounted to roughly 80 percent of all the coal produced in Iowa.

The 2020 census counted 472 people in Lovilia living in 190 households, a long decline from the coal-era peak of 958 residents in 1920.

Lovilia covers only about half a square mile in southern Monroe County.

Lovilia students attend public schools operated by the Albia Community School District.