Illmo is an unincorporated community in Scott County, Missouri

Scott County, Missouri

Scott County is a county located in Southeast Missouri in the United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 40,422; a 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 40,673. Its county seat is Benton...

. It is next to Scott City

Scott City, Missouri

Scott City is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 4,591 at the 2000 census.The Scott County portion of Scott City is part of the Sikeston Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Cape Girardeau County portion is part of the Cape...

. Its post office has closed and its mail now comes from Scott City. The community was founded in 1905 and its name is a contraction of Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

and Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

as the community is near Illinois and in Missouri. The town was created to support a major St. Louis Southwestern and Missouri Pacific railroad hub in the days of steam locomotives. The need for the railroad yard faded as the both railroads combined into Union Pacific. At one time, this huge yard, like Spencer, N.C., and many others, were busy day and night, and the romantic sounds of steam engines and switchers could be heard throughout the neighborhoods. The Thebes Bridge

Thebes Bridge

The Thebes Bridge is a truss bridge carrying the Union Pacific Railroad across the Mississippi River between Illmo, Missouri and Thebes, Illinois...

across the Mississippi was completed in 1905, and connected Illinois and Missouri, hence the name Illmo.