Homberg, Illinois

Homberg, Illinois
Unincorporated community
Homberg, Illinois Homberg, Illinois
Coordinates: 37°19′31″N 88°33′07″W
Country	United States
State	Illinois
County	Pope
Elevation	367 ft (112 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code	618
GNIS feature ID	425007

Homberg is an unincorporated community in Pope County, Illinois, United States, near the Ohio River and about five miles (8 km) southwest of the county seat of Golconda. It is on a flat riverbed, a former channel of the Ohio River when the river turned west and flowed a bit south of the present Illinois Route 146, crossing the current Mississippi River south of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, eventually merging with the Mississippi of that time, near Memphis, Tennessee. Earthquakes of 10,000 years ago may have helped change the channels of the rivers.

A rail line, used to transport feldspar mined near Rosiclare, ran through Homberg, which was abandoned as the mining died. Constructing the rail line brought its special problems. The rail line was officially removed in 1982{fact}. A small foodstore which doubled as a post office, continued until the 1970s. The bluff along the north side of the old river bed is 240 feet high.

Reevesville and Brownfield were two nearby rail stops. A story handed down by a Homberg family recounts that:
In 1902, people were dressed in their Sunday best clothes to welcome the first train on the track. The ladies were, of course, conditioned to think only of horse transportation. The train stopped so they could have a look at it. Then the train engineer announced "Ladies, please put your parasols down, because it makes the train afraid to pass." Legend says two or three ladies dutifully folded up their parasols, before they likely heard chuckles from the crowd.