Jubilee College State Park is an

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

state park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural ...

located west of

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

. It contains Jubilee College State Historic Site, a frontier Illinois

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

active from 1840 to 1862. Jubilee College, and the frontier community that supported it, was founded in 1839 by Episcopal

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Philander Chase Philander Chase (December 14, 1775 – September 20, 1852) was an Episcopal Church bishop, educator, and pioneer of the United States western frontier, especially in Ohio and Illinois. Early life and family Born in Cornish, New Hampshire to ...

. Earlier in his career Chase had founded

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in Ohio. This was one of the earliest educational enterprises in Illinois. After the Bishop's death, the college closed in 1862. In 1933 the college and grounds, then consisting of , were presented to the state of Illinois. The site has since been expanded to and includes the original Chase residence and church. The entire Jubilee College site is still owned by the state of Illinois. The college grounds are operated by the

Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Illinois Historic Preservation Division, formerly Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of Illinois, and is a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. It is tasked with the duty of m ...

(IHPA), and the surrounding of open space are operated by the

Illinois Department of Natural Resources The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...

(DNR). The State of Illinois occasionally offers guided tours of the centerpiece of Jubilee College, the 1840s building that housed the school's Episcopal

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

, classrooms and

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

facilities. Restored in the 1970s, one wing contains the recreated schoolmaster's office and library, which also features a video theater and museum exhibits about the college.Jubilee College State Historic Site
- Illinois Historic Preservation Agency The Jubilee College site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1972. Though the state park is still open, the historic site was closed November 30, 2008. Jubilee College State Historic Site, as well as 17 other historic sites and state parks, was closed by former Governor

Rod Blagojevich Rod Blagojevich ( , born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nicknames "Blago" or "B-Rod", is an American former politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009, when ...

to help close Illinois' multimillion-dollar budget deficit. The park was reopened by Blagojevich's successor, Pat Quinn, but closed again on October 9, 2009. However, the natural area surrounding the historic site, Jubilee College State Park contains

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

s maintained by volunteer user groups. The trails were originated by

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

s but are shared with hikers and mountain bikers. The state park also contains various camping areas, for which reservations are suggested.

References

External links

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Mountain bike trails at Jubilee College State Park
{{authority control State parks of Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois Illinois State Historic Sites Protected areas established in 1933 Museums in Peoria County, Illinois History museums in Illinois Education museums in the United States Protected areas of Peoria County, Illinois University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois 1933 establishments in Illinois