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Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg,
IL ,
USA
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Illinois State
Historical Marker
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In 1834, George Washington Gale, Presbyterian minister of Whitesboro, New York, evolved a plan to form a community and manual labor college in the Midwest to train missionaries. His original plan was to purchase a township of Government land at $1.25 an acre, sell it at $5 an acre, and apply the profits to an endowment for the college and community. In 1835, a committee of his followers picked the site. In the next two years settlers established Log City, a temporary town, and built Galesburg nearby. It was incorporated in 1841 and obtained the county seat from Knoxville in 1873. Knox College, chartered in 1837, began holding classes in 1838. Knox was strongly influenced by its religious origins but it gradually broadened its educational objectives. In 1930 Knox absorbed Lombard College founded by the Universalists in 1851 as Illinois Liberal Institute. Galesburg was a center of temperance and anti-slavery movements for many years and it was an important station on the Underground Railroad before the Civil War. On October 7, 1858, the fifth Lincoln-Douglas Debate was held on Knox Campus at 'Old main' which was named a National Historic Landmark in 1936. Galesburg is the birthplace of Carl Sandburg, noted poet and Lincoln biographer. His parents were part of a large influx of Swedish immigrants who settled in Galesburg in the 1850's.
Last updated: 2/14/2015 15:17:00 |
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