Batavia Institute
Batavia Institute, a private academy, was chartered on 12 February 1853 by 13 men, including Rev. Stephen Peet, the Congregational minister, Elijah Shumway Town, Joel McKee, John Van Nortwick, Dennison K. Town, who settled in Batavia in 1839 as its first physician, and Isaac G. Wilson. [2]
The building's central part, which still stands in Batavia at 333 South Jefferson Street, at Union Avenue, was constructed in 1853–1854 of locally quarried limestone at a cost of $20,000. The architect Elijah Shumway Town designed the building in a Greek Revival style. [3]
At the time the Batavia Institute was built, there were no secondary schools in Batavia. In fact, since not many towns had high schools, students came to the Batavia Institute from all over Illinois. The school operated for over 10 years under the supervision of the area's Congregational churches until new public school laws lessened the need for such a school. For a short time the building was rented to the public schools.
Proposed normal school
Using the Batavia Institute as the basis for its proposal, Batavia submitted a bid for the Illinois normal school in 1857. A normal school or teachers college is an educational institution for training teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name. The State of Illinois passed an act to establish a normal school on 18 February 1857—the second west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Bids were opened by the State Board of Education in Peoria on 7 May 1857. The first proposition on the agenda was from Batavia, which offered a subscription of $15,000, with the land and building belonging to the Batavia Institute, valued at $30,000, making $45,000 in all. Washington, in Tazewell County, Bloomington, and Peoria submitted proposals, as well. [4] [5] After considerable discussion, a resolution was adopted locating the new university at Bloomington—actually north of town at the village of North Bloomington, which was renamed Normal in 1865, for the school. Illinois State University celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2007.
Batavia is a city in DuPage and Kane Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 26,045, which was estimated to have increased to 26,420 by July 2019.
Dwight is a village located mainly in Livingston County, Illinois, with a small portion in Grundy County. The population was 4,260 at the 2010 census. Dwight contains an original stretch of the famous U.S. Route 66, and from 1892 until 2016 continuously used a railroad station designed in 1891 by Henry Ives Cobb. Interstate 55 bypasses the village to the north and west.
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of McLean County, Illinois, United States. It is adjacent to Normal, and is the more populous of the two principal municipalities of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. Bloomington is 135 miles (217 km) southwest of Chicago, and 162 miles (261 km) northeast of St. Louis. The 2010 Census showed the city had a population of 76,610, making it the 12th most populated city in Illinois, and the fifth-most populous city in the state outside the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Combined with Normal, the twin cities have a population of roughly 130,000. Bloomington is home to Country Financial.
Danvers is a village in McLean County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,154 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Normal is a town in McLean County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town's population was 52,497. Normal is the smaller of two principal municipalities of the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area, and Illinois' seventh most populous community outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Normal's mayor is Chris Koos.
Peoria is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,007. It is the principal city of the Peoria Metropolitan Area in Central Illinois, consisting of the counties of Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford, which had a population of 373,590 in 2011.
Illinois State University (ISU) is a public university in Normal, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1857 as Illinois State Normal University, it is the oldest public university in Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of the top ten largest producers of teachers in the US according to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity".
Peoria State Hospital Historic District, also known as Bartonville State Hospital or Illinois Asylum for the Incurable Insane, was a psychiatric hospital operated by the State of Illinois from 1902 to 1973. The hospital is located in Bartonville, Illinois, near the city of Peoria in Peoria County. The hospital grounds and its 63 buildings are listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Ruben M. Benjamin House is a house in Bloomington, Illinois. It is a two-story rectangular building, styled in the Classical Revival architectural motif. It was built in 1856 John L. Routt, who would become the first governor of Colorado. Ruben M. Benjamin, an attorney known for litigation relating to railroad regulation, lived in the home for more than 60 years. The United States National Register of Historic Places added the Ruben M. Benjamin House in August 1978.
Central Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois that consists of the entire central third of the state, divided from north to south. It is mostly an area of flat prairie. The western section was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the distinctive western bulge of the state. Also known as the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently. Major cities include Peoria, Springfield, Decatur, Quincy, Champaign–Urbana, Bloomington-Normal, Galesburg, and Danville.
The Hubbard House is one of Hudson, Illinois', United States Registered Historic Places, the other one, located along the same street, is the Gildersleeve House. The Hubbard House is significant as the boyhood home of American writer and philosopher Elbert Hubbard. Hubbard lived in Hudson and attended school there, he stayed in the village until he was 16. The original wing of the house was built in 1857 by a doctor from Buffalo, New York, Silas Hubbard. In 1872 the two-story section of the house was constructed in a typical I-house design. The home has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979.
Uptown Station is an intermodal transportation center in Normal, Illinois, United States. It is served by Amtrak, the national railroad passenger system, and is the major intercity rail station in north-central Illinois. It appears on Amtrak timetables as Bloomington-Normal.
Springdale Cemetery is a historic, non-sectarian, active cemetery in the United States city of Peoria, Illinois. It was chartered in 1855, received its first interment in 1857. Almost 78,000 individuals are buried at the cemetery. It contains a public mausoleum and 15 private mausoleums.
The Louise White School is a Registered Historic Place in Batavia, Illinois. It was in active use as a school for 85 years, and served as home of the Chautauqua movement in north central Illinois.
Meadows, Illinois is a small unincorporated community located in McLean County. Meadows is located on US Route 24, midway between Chenoa and Gridley, with easy access from Interstate 55. Meadows at one time had a bank, general store, auto garage, a washing machine factory, and a school. All that remains in town is a nursing home, church, and a grain elevator. One railway line passes through the center of the town.
Sarah Ann Hackett Stevenson was an American physician in Illinois, and the first female member of the American Medical Association (AMA), as an Illinois State Medical Society delegate in 1876. She was a leader and advocate for the emancipation of women and for the equal treatment of men and women.
Gurdon P. Randall (1821–1884) was an architect in Chicago, Illinois. Early in his career, he studied in Boston, Massachusetts, in the office of Asher Benjamin. He moved to Chicago when he was 30, and practiced there for 34 years, focusing on large institutional architecture. He designed a number of notable buildings, including several that survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Richard Edwards was a Welsh American educator from Ceredigion (Cardinganshire). Emigrating to the United States with his family when he was a child, Edwards studied at the State Normal School in Bridgewater, Massachusetts and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. He then led a number of schools: the Boys' High School in Salem, Massachusetts (1853–1854); the State Normal School in Salem (1854–1857); the Normal School in St. Louis, Missouri (1857–1861); Illinois State Normal University (1862–1876); and Blackburn University(1891–1893). From 1887 to 1891, he served as the Illinois Superintendent of Public Instruction.
