Wayfarrow

Bender

Ghost town · Johnson County, Illinois

Vienna quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500)
Vienna quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Bender is a ghost town in Johnson County, Illinois. It is one of 3 former communities in Johnson County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 21st among the 78 Illinois counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Bender as a historical populated place on the Vienna topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 37.3789° N, 88.8920° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleVienna
Elevation351 ft
Nearest living townVienna, IL
Distance to it2.4 miles
GNIS feature ID1815823
Coordinates37.37894, -88.89201

Open the location on a map

What's there now

Bender is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Vienna, IL (population 2,115), about 2.4 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 351 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Bender?

Bender is in Johnson County, Illinois, at 37.3789, -88.8920.

How many ghost towns are in Johnson County?

Johnson County, Illinois has 3 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.