Oldest College Building - Jacksonville, IL
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 39° 43.869 W 090° 14.904
15S E 735811 N 4401539
Lots of history and famous people attached to the buildings history.
Waymark Code: WMKD82
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 03/24/2014
Views: 2
County of building: Morgan County
Location of building: W. College Ave., Illinois College campus, Jacksonville
GPS of site is marker - Building GPS is: N 39° 43.869 W 090° 14.904
Beecher Hall is located a ½ mile N. of this Marker
Marker erected by: Illinois College and The Illinois State Historical Society
Date marker erected: 1965
Marker Text:
ILLINOIS COLLEGE
Founded in 1829 by Presbyterian and Congregational ministers. It was the first college in Illinois to graduate a class. The first graduate was Richard Yates, Civil War Governor. Alma Mater of William Jennings Bryan, '81. Beecher Hall, the state's oldest college building, is on the campus one-half mile north.
In 1856, the structure was given the name of the college's first president, Edward Beecher -- brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Today, after a major restoration in 1991, Beecher Hall continues to be the heart of Illinois College, as it has been for more than 160 years.
Illinois College was prominent in the abolitionist movement. President Beecher was an outspoken opponent of slavery. A grand jury indicted a group of students for harboring runaway slaves and two campus houses are believed to have been part of the Underground Railroad.