The New International Encyclopædia/Jacksonville (Illinois)

JACKSONVILLE. A city and the county-seat of Morgan County, Ill., 90 miles north of Saint Louis, Mo.; on the Chicago and Alton, the Chicago, Peoria and Saint Louis, the Wabash, and the Jacksonville and Saint Louis railroads (Map: Illinois, B 4). Primarily a residential place, Jacksonville has numerous colleges and public institutions. It is the seat of Illinois College, founded in 1829 (the first institution of higher learning in the State); the Illinois Woman's College (Methodist Episcopal), opened in 1847; Jacksonville Academy for Young Women, opened in 1830; State Conservatory of Music; the State Central Hospital for the Insane; and State institutions for the blind and the deaf and dumb. There are also the Passavant Memorial Hospital, Hospital of Our Saviour, and Carnegie Public Library. Duncan Park and the Morgan County fair grounds are here. The city hall, court-house, and high school are prominent buildings, and Morgan Lake is of interest. The principal industrial establishments include railroad car shops of the Chicago, Peoria and Saint Louis, woolen and planing mills, brick-yards, and bridge-works. Jacksonville, named in honor of Gen. Andrew Jackson, was founded as the county-seat in 1825, and was first incorporated in 1867, this charter being still in operation. The government is vested in a mayor, elected biennially, a council, and administrative officials, the majority of whom are appointed by the mayor, a number of appointments, however, requiring the confirmation of the council. There are municipal water-works and an electric-light plant. Population, in 1890, 12,935; in 1900, 15,078.