Welcome to Bethel ...

Bethel is located in Morgan County<1>.

The location of Bethel has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (the GNIS).<2>

The pronunciation of Bethel: beth-AHL<3>

While we don't have a date for the founding of Bethel, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1833.

Bethel is 620 feet [189 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Bethel lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Bethel is within the boundaries of the (217) area code.

Communities Also Named Bethel ...

While we believe that this Bethel is located in Morgan County, we know of another 3 Illinois communities named Bethel. Those communities are located in the following counties: Clay, Jackson and Vermilion County.

Beyond Illinois, there are 143 communities that are also named Bethel - they are located in Alabama (13), Alaska, Arkansas (7), California, Connecticut (2), Delaware (2), Florida (2), Georgia (10), Indiana (2), Iowa, Kansas (3), Kentucky (3), Louisiana (2), Maine, Manitoba, Maryland (5), Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi (5), Missouri, New Brunswick, New Jersey, New Mexico (2), New York (2), North Carolina (9), Ohio (5), Oklahoma (2), Ontario (4), Oregon (2), Pennsylvania (8), Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Rhode Island, South Carolina (3), Tennessee (14), Texas (9), Vermont, Virginia (7), Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Bethel.

Communities near Bethel ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bethel.

• Jacksonville
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jacksonville
  • Jacksonville is located in Morgan County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 18,488 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Jacksonville <5>
• Beardstown
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beardstown
  • Beardstown is located in Cass County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,335 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Beardstown <5>
• South Jacksonville
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Jacksonville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Jacksonville
  • South Jacksonville is located in Morgan County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 3,075 people
• Winchester
  (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Winchester
  • Winchester is located in Scott County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,466 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Winchester <5>
• Virginia
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Virginia have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Virginia
  • Virginia is located in Cass County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,406 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Virginia <5>
• Griggsville
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Griggsville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Griggsville
  • Griggsville is located in Pike County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,125 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Griggsville <5>
• Meredosia
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meredosia
  • Meredosia is located in Morgan County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 961 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Meredosia <5>
• Bluffs
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Bluffs have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bluffs
  • Bluffs is located in Scott County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 658 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Bluffs <5>
• Murrayville
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Murrayville have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murrayville
  • Murrayville is located in Morgan County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 541 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Murrayville <5>
• Woodson
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Woodson
  • Woodson is located in Morgan County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 483 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Woodson <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bethel. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bethel.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Bethel. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Bethel.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bethel. See our Newspapers Page for Bethel.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bethel ...

Looking for more information about Bethel? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

While we are unaware of a Tourism page that is specific to Bethel, there are neighboring communities that do have Tourism pages. A map of those communities can be found with our TripAdvisor Page for Bethel.

Adding Bethel to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bethel in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bethel was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

From that list, the Bethel post office opened in 1833.

We also found Bethel in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bethel.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bethel. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov