What is the history of Pana, Illinois?
Pana Illinois, in Christian County, was first known as Stone Coal Precinct when it was founded on June 5, 1845. The name was changed to Pana Township on September 2, 1856. In 1857, the village of Pana was incorporated. It was the intersection of east-west and north-south railroads, and had supplies of fuel and water for the steam engines of the railroad. Pana was the site of the Pana Coal Strike, an attempt to break/avert the coal mine unions around 1900. It pitted city/township verses county law enforcement, which culminated with a declaration of marshal law and the control of Pana by the national guard. See Eleanor Burhorn’s Masters thesis on the Pana Mine Strike, available at the Pana Public Library. Pana came to be known as the City of Roses, coined by local newsmen, the Jordan Brothers. Because of a weather and geographical anomaly, Pana is a city in the midwest that has very few hail storms, making it ideal for the greenhouse industry; along with its ample supply of coal. Many ma
