The village is named after British politician Richard Cobden, who visited the town in 1859.

[6] Cobden began as an agricultural town and developed around the tracks of a route owned by the Illinois Central Railroad (now owned by Canadian National Railway), as well as being along a main highway, U.S. Highway 51, running through the region.

Nearby Alto Pass, Illinois lies 5.1 miles to the northwest.

It is in "Cobden Col", a valley cut into rock by water near the summit of this ancient mountain range.

Approximately 100,000 years ago, the Illinoian ice sheet covered almost all of Illinois.

As it pushed south, the ice sheet climbed the Shawnee Mountains.

This nickname originated when the high school first began to compete in athletics.