Home

Home of the Betsey Ann Bell

Brighton’s first settlers, Oliver Brown and William Cowan, came to the area in February of 1826 and erected a cabin sixteen feet square. The first Post Office was opened in 1837 and the village of Brighton was incorporated in 1869.

Brighton’s name sake is Brighton, Massachusetts, named by a group of English settlers from Brighton, Sussex, England. Brighton, Illinois passed on it’s name when William A. Loveland, and others from this area, joined the Colorado Gold Rush in 1859, and eventually founded the town of Brighton, Colorado.

The late A. William Amass, long time editor of the Brighton News, once said, “Brighton, Illinois is the granddaughter of an English city, the daughter of a Massachusetts village, and the mother of a Colorado town.”

The village of Brighton is located mostly in Macoupin County, Illinois and partially in Jersey County. Also, some rural residents of Madison County have Brighton mailing addresses.

The current population of Brighton is 2370. The village's current mayor is Wayne Schafer.