Town file
Troy, Illinois
Troy, Illinois (Madison County, Illinois) is the town in one episode of Small Town Murder, the comedy true-crime podcast: episode 140, "When Death Is Too Easy" (10 October 2019). Troy, Illinois, is a small town in Madison County in the southwestern part of the state, about 25 minutes from St. Louis.
- Town
- Troy
- County
- Madison County
- State
- Illinois
- Country
- USA
- Episodes
- 140
- Approximate location
- 38.726, -89.893
Episode 140 / 10 October 2019 / 139 min / full
When Death Is Too Easy
"We are going to the central part of the nation here, Illinois. Going to Troy, Illinois... It's in southwestern Illinois, it's more Missouri than Chicago." about 0:05:40
The case: Murder of Roy 'Jasper' Pendleton (February 1990); Assault and torture of Dana Schaefermeyer (1987); Kidnapping and torture of a woman in Troy (February 1990). Read the case file.
The figures, as told in 2019
- Population
- 10,208
- Median household income
- $71,346
- Two-bedroom rent
- $886
- Cost of living
- 100.1
- Religious
- 49%
- Property crime
- ▼ about half
- Violent crime
- ▼ just about half, a little higher than half
History, in brief
- Troy was platted in 1819. about 0:10:05
- Jedediah Wooley, the first surveyor in Madison County and an early settler from Ohio, came with his son Jedediah Wooley Jr. and his son-in-law Alfred. about 0:11:09
- In 1819 ten acres of land in southern Illinois became what was Troy. about 0:12:00
- A settler named John Jarvis sold the ten acres for $10 an acre, $100 for the ten acres. about 0:12:05
- It used to be known as Columbia before it was mapped out as Troy. about 0:12:18
- Within a year there were 120 people, a band mill, a storehouse and a couple of taverns. about 0:12:24
- Troy got a post office in 1833. about 0:13:04
- It became the first stage coach stop for travellers to and from St. Louis. about 0:13:12
- By 1850 the population had grown to 250 and there was a stage coach shop. about 0:13:24
- Troy became a legally recognised town in 1857. about 0:13:31
- A newspaper started in Troy in 1872. about 0:13:37
- A railroad stop came in the late 1800s and helped the population grow. about 0:14:30
- Madison County became a big industrial region in the late 1800s. about 0:14:39
- In the 1900s the area was known for granite ware, steel mills and oil refineries, heavy industry that polluted the air. about 0:15:02
- A 2009 EPA air pollution report ranked Madison County as the county with the second highest cancer risk in the country, second only to Los Angeles County. about 0:16:12
The reviews read out
2 stars
"Her mother moved the family there in 2001; not much has changed, the same fast food places, the only grocery store is overpriced, the town is not diverse, public transport is poor, it is full of privileged people, the schools are a joke, police harass people especially on Meadow Drive and there is no opportunity."about 0:16:56
2 stars
"Illinois is the worst state in the country and I hate it."about 0:19:29
3 stars
"Not much crime, but there is occasionally; no murders."about 0:19:40
Nearest Small Town Murder towns
- Columbia, Illinois25 miles
- Fenton, Missouri33 miles
- Festus, Missouri45 miles
- Bonne Terre, Missouri66 miles
- New Florence, Missouri85 miles
- Mount Zion, Illinois91 miles
Everything here is as told in the episode, on the date it went out; figures and places may have changed since. Endings are covered: open an episode and use the spoiler switch to read them.