Posen is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Bolo Township, Washington County,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States. Posen is southeast of

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

. Since 1901, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, a member of the

Diocese of Belleville The Diocese of Belleville ( la, Diœcesis Bellevillensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the southern Illinois region of the United States. It comprises the southern counties of the state of Ill ...

has been located here. As with many small homestead communities, little documentation of Posen exists online despite historical and local significance. The community was named after Poznań, Poland because much like the rest of Washington County, Posen was settled entirely by Poles, some of whom were secular Polish Jews before converting to Roman Catholicism. Having dwindled in population with time, the only remaining buildings apart from the Roman Catholic parish are a handful of residential homes, an old storefront converted into a residential unit, a large graveyard of the parishioners and pioneers, the Bolo Township Hall, and an alpaca farm. The original church structure was replaced in the late 1960s.

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References

Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Illinois Unincorporated communities in Illinois {{WashingtonCountyIL-geo-stub