County of city: Pike County
Location of city: NE corner of county; crossroads of IL-107, N. of US-36
County is Mind-Central and on the western border of the state
Post office: 102 W. Quincy St, Griggsville
Elevation: 456 feet (139m)
Population: 1,195 (2013)
"The water tower of this small west-central Illinois town warns all foolish enough to leave the Interstate that they have ventured into the "Purple Martin Capital of the Nation." But even before the water tower type is visible, visitors will have passed an alarming number of tall poles supporting multiple-dwelling bird houses. They seem to be on almost every street corner. Near the town center, a 562-apartment bird high-rise pokes up into the blue, visible for miles by its intended inhabitant -- the Purple Martin.
"The bluish-black bird -- once an endangered species -- has rebounded thanks to protection by a federal law, boosterism of towns like Griggsville, and a unique talent. A single Purple Martin can supposedly eat 2,000 mosquitoes a day.
"The town lies in the vicinity of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers; in the muggy summer months, a cloud of blood sucking flying insects can descend on an unprepared community. This problem isn't unique, or even at its most extreme in Griggsville -- just head south into Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana for serious bug bite Hell. The Purple Martin makes short work of insects in a wide swath of the Americas. In fact, at least a dozen other towns claim to be "Purple Martin Capital of YOUR STATE HERE."
"But Griggsville is unique as a town whose principle industry is the manufacture of Purple Martin living quarters. J.L. Wade, a nature lover and former antenna manufacturer, started his Trio Manufacturing Company down the PM housing path over 40 years ago.
"Purple Martins are mostly incompetent when it comes to building shelters, so they rely on human efforts where their natural roosts have been destroyed. The PMs winter in Brazil, and return north each year. In the 1960s, during the DDT pesticide scares, Griggsville adopted this novel approach to pest control. Wade converted his antenna operation to a bird house-building factory." ~ Roadside America