About Us

Welcome to the Village of Minier! 

Minier is a small farming town with a population of 1,300, located west of Bloomington, IL, in Tazewell County. The history of Minier dates back to October 1867, the year in which George W. Minier founded Minier. "Father Minier", as he was affectionately known, was a prominent educator, land surveyor, farmer, ordained minister of the Christian Church, a president of the State Horticultural Society, a vice president of the State Agricultural Society, and a president of the North American Forestry Association.

He was a friend of Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas and was nominated to the United States Congress.

George W. Minier received this town, which he named after his name, as a payment for services rendered to the Illinois Central Railroad. He died on February 18, 1902. Shortly before his death, he dictated a letter to his friends saying, “We have done what we can to make the world wiser, better and more beautiful, we should be satisfied.”

Shortly after the Village was laid out, the sale of lots began. Lots were purchased by people living in the surrounding area as well as many from the East, primarily Ohio and Pennsylvania. Soon houses and businesses were being built and the Village grew quite rapidly. Even from earliest years, it was obvious that Minier was a self -supporting town.

Despite the size of the town, Miner has had telephone line since 1883, electric light since 1899,and its own newspaper since 1875. Through its history, Minier has also been able to set up an elementary school, a library, churches, etc. Minier has also been in the line of C&A Railroad which is a branch of Chicago, Alton and St. Louis.

Minier can justly be proud of its heritage, for from the very beginning, it has had dedicated community leaders who took great pride in the Village and saw to it that progress was continually being made to make it a better place in which to live and work.

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