The Village of White City started as a small farming community and was list a village in Mt Olive Township in Feb 1859. In area, the village is small only comprising 1.2 sq miles.
In 1904, The St Louis Mining Company sank the first shaft for the # 15-coalmine. The Mine Company purchases the Sears Catalog model homes from the 1904 Worlds fair, deconstructed, and moved the houses to the village surrounding the mine. The village was named White City at that time, as all the houses were white. At the opening of the mine, the population of the village was approximately 500 and in 1907 at the time the village was incorporated, the population was 800. A red brick schoolhouse for elementary grades was built on what is now the corner of Main ST and Fourth. During the early 1900’s the village had its own grocery store, several bars and mens and women’s baseball teams. The population continued to increase and at one time supported close to 1000 residents. . With the closing of the mine in 1957, the population began to decrease sharply as the miners followed the mines. By 2000 census, the population was only 221 residents. According to the 2010 census, the population has increased to 232 residents.
