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piauc iu pi ay uau.When they outgrew it, they donated the ground to the village with the stipulation thatit be used as a park.The village has done exactly that, with improvements that included new picnic tables, grills and playground equipment.A $380,000 state grant received in late 1989, combined with federal funds, has been used to build a sewer system, replacing the septic tanks that had been in use. Residents are now being signed up for the new service.Coello residents have been heating their homes with natural gas since 1967; they’ve had municipal water since 1968.Both services were set up more than a decade after the Old Ben Coal Co. abandoned itsNo. 11 mine.The village lost some residents then.But others found work nearby, and still others have returned.“We always say, ‘Once you live in Coello, something draws you back,’ ” said Mary Strit-zel.She came to Coello more than 50 years agoas a young bride from Herrin.Her son, Ron, has more than 20 years onthe village board now and is chief of the volunteer fire department.Moschino, mayor since 1961, believes people have stayed in Coello because of a “deepfeeling of home.”“We believe in the town,” he said, “and wewant to do all we can for it.”The village has a Christmas party each year, and the three-day Coello Homecoming on Memorial Day weekend has been drawing peopleback since 1962.“Look at Uncle Fred,” said Martin Basolo Jr. at Basolo’s Grocery, “He’s never missed a“Uncle Fred” is Fred Basolo, a past president of the National Academy of Sciences.Relatives Amelia Basolo and her sons. Fred and Martin Jr., continue a business tradition started in 1920 by her father, the late Tom Gaetano.In Coello, one need not wait for a community dinner or a holiday in order to catch up on the news. The grocery, the post office and the two remaining taverns all appear to be daily social centers.Mrs. Basolo and one of her four sisters, Josephine Monti, own the B M Tavern.Everybody calls it The Sisters, and “Josie” — as her friends call her — said they've al-wavs operated it as a place for families.Local officials said stories about the village’s reputation as a tough mining camp are true, and its nickname was once “Pistol City.But Coello’s one, true and only name has always been — North City.Everyone who lives there calls it Coello because that’s the name given to the branch post office.The name North City stemmed from the nicknames given two mines which Old Ben bought in 1917. Old Ben No. 11, was “New North”; Old Ben No. 10 was “Old North.”The name Coello, said Moschino, was that of Pete Coello, who once ran the post office and who supposedly offered the village fathers $50 if they would name the branch after him.Moschino recalls a time when all the signs said “Coello” and a federal official spent half a dav driving around in a search for North City.Coello is just off Illinois 14, northwest of Christopher. Just turn at the sign marked “North City.”
Newspaper Details
Southern Illinoisan
Carbondale, Illinois, US
Sun, Sep 20, 1992
Page 83
Full Page
Clipped by
Ce B.
IL, USA 14 Feb 2023
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