| Crab Orchard | |
| Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Illinois |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Williamson |
| Subdivision Type3: | Township |
| Pushpin Map: | Illinois |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Crab Orchard within Illinois |
| Coordinates: | 37.7292°N -88.8042°W |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.70 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.43 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.40 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.04 |
| Elevation Ft: | 515 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 356 |
| Population Density Km2: | 98.50 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 255.20 |
| Timezone1: | CST |
| Utc Offset1: | -6 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CDT |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | -5 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP Code |
| Postal Code: | 62959 |
| Area Code: | 618 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 17-17094 |
| Blank1 Name: | GNIS feature ID |
| Blank1 Info: | 2628548 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Land Km2: | 3.61 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.09 |
Crab Orchard is an unincorporated census-designated place east of Marion in Williamson County, Illinois, located along an old route of Illinois Route 13 now parts of that is Crab Orchard Road it's South of where the Illinois Route 13 is. The upper branches of Crab Orchard Creek which eventually feed into Crab Orchard Lake flow nearby and gave the community its name. For a brief time during the Civil War, it was known as Erwinsville, which is the name in the original plat of the village. In its early days, it had the nickname "Steal-Easy." The Crab Orchard post office was established 18 August 1853 and discontinued operations 15 May 1924. It's now served by the Marion post office.[2] As of the 2010 census, Crab Orchard has a population of 333.[3] Crab Orchard has an area of 1.43mi2; 1.395mi2 of this is land, and 0.035mi2 is water.
Crab Orchard Community Unit School District 3 serves the community and surrounding area.
The Crab Orchard Public Library District serves the area with its main library in Crab Orchard and satellite services at Pittsburg and Creal Springs.[4]
Fire protection is provided by Williamson County Fire Protection District. Station #3 is located on the north edge of the community.[5] Treated water is provided by the private Coal Valley Water District.[6]