Swansea is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is a part of the St. Louis metropolitan area and Metro East in southern Illinois. It is surrounded by the cities of Fairview Heights, Belleville, O’Fallon, and Shiloh. The population was 13,430 at the 2010 census, an increase from 10,579 in 2000.
In the late 19th century the area that is now Swansea was a mix of farming and commerce. It was home to underground coal mines, foundries, brickyards, and the Gundlach Drill Works, manufacturers of the most efficient grain drills of that era. The early residents were fiercely independent and bent on conducting their own affairs. When the municipality that sat on their doorstep reached out to annex their lands and businesses they decided to start their own community.