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- Town
20,141
46%
$41,436
34.3%
America/Chicago
61920
Welcome:
The WikiXM 'Charleston' platform is your gateway to becoming an active part of our vibrant community, regardless of your age or how long you've called 'Charleston' home. It's more than just a news platform; it's a thriving hub where the collective wisdom of every 'Charleston' resident converges to ignite discussions, foster learning, and empower one another with knowledge about our beloved town.
Here in 'Charleston', we have a diverse tapestry of residents. Some have roots that run deep, their knowledge steeped in the rich history of our town. Others are students, dedicated to keeping us updated on school activities, while many are committed to sharing the ebb and flow of daily life.
What's more, from a civic and political perspective, there are countless opportunities for you to join in. Many in our community offer updates on policies and decisions, offering their unique insights. This platform is where all these local perspectives meld together, creating a better place for everyone to live, regardless of your age or how long you've been a part of 'Charleston'.
So, whether you're a long-time resident or a newcomer, young or old, WikiXM is your invitation to dive into the heart of our community, to engage, and help us all create a more vibrant, inclusive, and connected 'Charleston'. Join us and let's make a difference together!
Charleston, IL - History
We would like to provide the residents of Charleston a basic history overview.
Welcome to the Charleston Home page. The Charleston Home page provides as much information as possible on Charleston. Knowing Charleston’s history is essential to guiding its future. Within Charleston’s Home page, you will also find Charleston’s Founders, Holiday, and Birthday sections.
Charleston has a population of 20141. 47.8% of Charleston’s inhabitants are Male, and 52.2 are female. 30.4% of Charleston is married and 45.6% own their own home. The Average Home price is $110,453, and the average rent is $716. Household median income in Charleston is $41,436, and the individual median income is $17,614. Charleston’s Ethnic is the following: White(87.4%), Black(7.6%), Hispanic(3.6%), Asian(2.2%), Multiple(2.2%), Other(0.4%), Native(0.2%), Pacific(0.1%).
Native Americans lived in the Charleston area for thousands of years before the first European settlers arrived. With the great tallgrass prairie to the west, beech-maple forests to the east, and the Embarras River and Wabash Rivers between, the Charleston area provided semi-nomadic Indians access to a variety of resources.
Indians may have deliberately set the "wildfires" which maintained the local mosaic of prairie and oak–hickory forest. Streams with names such as 'Indian Creek' and 'Kickapoo Creek' mark the sites of former Indian settlements. One village is said to have been located south of Fox Ridge State Park near a deposit of flint.The early history of settlement in the area was marked by uneasy co-existence between Indians and European settlers.
Some settlers lived peacefully with the natives, but conflict arose in the 1810s and 1820s. After Indians allegedly harassed surveying crews, an escalating series of poorly documented skirmishes occurred between Indians, settlers, and the Illinois Rangers. Two pitched battles (complete with cannon on one side) took place just south of Charleston along "the hills of the Embarrass," near the entrance to Lake Charleston park.
These conflicts did not slow American settlement, and Indian history in Coles County effectively ended when all natives were expelled by law from Illinois after the 1832 Black Hawk War. With the grudging exception of Indian wives, the last natives were driven out by the 1840s.First settled by Benjamin Parker in 1826, Charleston was named for Charles Morton, its first postmaster.
The city was established in 1831, but not incorporated until 1865. When Abraham Lincoln's father moved to a farm on Goosenest Prairie south of Charleston in 1831, Lincoln helped him move, then left to start his own homestead at New Salem in Sangamon County. Lincoln was a frequent visitor to the Charleston area, though he likely spent more time at the Coles County courthouse than at the home of his father and stepmother.
One of the famous Lincoln–Douglas debates was held in Charleston on September 18, 1858, and is now the site of the Coles County fairgrounds and a small museum. Lincoln's last visit was in 1859, when the future President visited his stepmother and his father's grave. Although Illinois was a solidly pro-Union, anti-slavery state, Coles County was settled by many Southerners with pro-slavery sentiments.
In 1847, the county was divided when prominent local citizens offered refuge to a family of escaped slaves brought from Kentucky by Gen. Robert Matson. Abe Lincoln, by then a young railroad lawyer, appeared in the Coles County Courthouse to argue for the return of the escaped slaves under the Fugitive Slave Act in a case known as Matson v.
Ashmore. As in the rest of the nation, this long-simmering debate finally broke out into violence during the American Civil War. On March 28, 1864 a riot—or perhaps a small battle—erupted in downtown Charleston when armed Confederate sympathizers known as Copperheads arrived in town to attack half-drunk Union soldiers preparing to return to their regiment.In 1895, the Eastern Illinois State Normal School was established in Charleston, which later became Eastern Illinois University.
This led to lasting resentment in nearby Mattoon, which had originally led the campaign to locate the proposed teaching school in Coles County. A Mattoon newspaper printed a special edition announcing the decision with the derisive headline "Catfish Town Gets It." Thomas Lincoln's log cabin has been restored and is open to the public as the Lincoln Log Cabin State Historic Site, 8 mi.
south of Charleston. The Lincoln farm is maintained as a living history museum where historical re-enactors depict life in 1840s Illinois. Thomas and Sarah Bush Lincoln are buried in the nearby Shiloh Cemetery.On May 26, 1917, a tornado ripped through Charleston, killing 38 and wounding many more along with destroying 220 homes.
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