Jacksonville, Illinois

Jacksonville is a city in Morgan County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,446 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Morgan County.

Jacksonville is the principal city of the Jacksonville Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Morgan and Scott counties.

History

Jacksonville was established on a 160-acre tract of land in the center of Morgan County in 1825, two years after the county itself was founded. The town grew at a rapid rate, and a town square quickly developed. In 1829, the Presbyterian Reverend John M. Ellis felt the need for a new "seminary of learning" in the new state of Illinois. A group of Congregational students at Yale University heard about his plans and headed westward to establish the new school. These students were a part of the famous "Yale Bands," which were groups of students that established multiple colleges in what is now the Midwest. Illinois College was one of the first institutions of higher learning in the Midwest.