Elsah is a village in

Jersey County, Illinois Jersey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 21,512. The county seat and largest community is Jerseyville, with a population of 8,337 in 2010. The county's smallest incorporated c ...

. As of the 2020 census, the village had a total population of 519. Michael Pitchford is the village's current acting mayor. It is the home of

Principia College Principia College (Principia or Prin) is a private liberal arts college in Elsah, Illinois. It was founded in 1912 by Mary Kimball Morgan with the purpose of "serving the Cause of Christian Science." "Although the College is not affiliated wit ...

. Elsah is a part of the

Metro-East Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties (and parts of three others) in the St. Louis Metropolitan Sta ...

region and the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Elsah is located at (38.953720, -90.354732). According to the 2010 census, the village has a total area of , all land.

History

James Semple James Semple (January 5, 1798 – December 20, 1866) was an American attorney and politician. He was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives, Attorney General of Illinois, an associate justice of the Illinois Supreme Court, Chargé d ...

, a local lawyer, prominent politician and

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from

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

, founded Elsah in 1853 and offered free lots to anyone who built houses with stone from his quarry. It is believed that he named the village of Elsah after Ailsa Craig, the last outcropping his family saw as they departed

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. By 1861, the village had grown to its current size, as geographic and economic limitations prevented further expansion. Although Elsah has been described as the "New England of the Midwest," the village is not a

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

prototype derived from 18th century colonial styles. Rather, the architecture found in Elsah demonstrates 19th century styles and fashions including

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...

, Gothic Revival,

Mansard A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

Saltbox A saltbox house is a gable-roofed residential structure that is typically two stories in the front and one in the rear. It is a traditional New England style of home, originally timber framed, which takes its name from its resemblance to a woode ...

, and

Gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. (The usual architectural term in eighteenth-century England and North America was "Dutch roof".) The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, ...

. Elsah prospered as the main shipping point for the agricultural goods produced by the farmers of Jersey County. The village's importance diminished with the coming of the railroad, later being revitalized when

was established in the 1930s.Elsah description & history
retrieved August 24, 2007 Eliestoun House was completed in 1890 by

Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. (August 18, 1854, Portland, Maine – February 16, 1934, Portland) was an American architect and nephew of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Biography Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. was the son of Alexan ...

The house is on the grounds of Principia College and named after "'Elliestoun Tower' on Castle Semple Loch" which is part of the Lands of Elliston in

. Henry Turner and his wife Ada Ames had the house built. Ada is a descendant of James Semple. Eliestoun building

Elsah remained mainly a quiet village until the opening of the Great River Road ( Illinois Route 100) in 1964. Elsah is a community whose homes are privately owned. In 1973, the entire village was placed on 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 ...

. The

Great Flood of 1993 The Great Flood of 1993 (or Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993) was a flood that occurred in the Midwestern United States, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood wa ...

caused significant damage to many of the village's structures. The historic commercial district on LaSalle Street, which extends three blocks inward from the river, consists mainly of stone buildings; all but one of its pre-1861 buildings, including all four of the village's historic taverns, still stand. The other two districts are both located on Mill Street and are primarily residential; the larger one is three blocks long and has an assortment of stone and brick houses, while the smaller section has a single block of

homes. Today, Elsah's proximity to bald eagle watching locations make it a popular destination during the fall and winter seasons. Elsah's location on the Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail also makes it a popular stop for bicyclists enjoying the Great River Road in any season.

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 635 people, 69 households, and 40 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 102 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 90.08%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 4.25%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.63% Native American, 0.79%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.16%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1.42% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2.68% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 3.31% of the population. There were 69 households, out of which 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.3% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.6% were non-families. 40.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.71. In the village, the population was spread out, with 4.6% under the age of 18, 77.0% from 18 to 24, 6.3% from 25 to 44, 8.0% from 45 to 64, and 4.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 21 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.6 males. The median income for a household in the village was $57,083, and the median income for a family was $60,000. Males had a median income of $47,500 versus $26,964 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the village was $13,154. None of the population or families were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

Education

Elsah includes

, a four-year liberal-arts private college for

Christian Scientists Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

. The campus area, known as the

Principia College Historic District The Principia College Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District encompassing the central portion of the campus of Principia College in Elsah, Illinois. The campus master plan, as well as eleven of its buildings, are important ...

, was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1993, and was placed on the

that same year.

Geography

The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway passes through Elsah. The Elsah area was also one of the two finalists for the site of the Air Force Academy in 1954.

Notable people

This article is about individuals from Elsah. For individuals who attended

, see List of Principia College alumni. *

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

, Academy Award-winning actor, is an alumnus of

in Elsah * Herbert G. Giberson, Illinois state senator and businessman *

, United States Senator from Illinois, diplomat of New Granada, and founder of Elsah

References

External links

Village of Elsah
website
Friends of Eliestoun
website {{Riverbend, state=collapsed Metro East Villages in Jersey County, Illinois Illinois populated places on the Mississippi River Populated places established in 1853 1853 establishments in Illinois

Geography

History

Demographics

Education

Geography

Notable people

See also

References

External links