Lewistown is a city and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Fulton County, Illinois Fulton County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 33,609. Its county seat is Lewistown, and the largest city is Canton. Fulton County comprises the Canton, IL Micropolitan Statist ...

, United States. It was named by its founder, Ossian M. Ross, after his oldest son,

Lewis Winans Ross Lewis Winans Ross (December 8, 1812 – October 29, 1895) was an American attorney, merchant, and politician. He served two nonconseutive terms on the Illinois House of Representatives from 1840 to 1842 and 1844 to 1846, and was U.S. Represent ...

. The population was 2,041 at the 2020 census. Located in central

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, it is southwest of Peoria. It is the source of ''

Spoon River Anthology ''Spoon River Anthology'' is a 1915 collection of short free verse poems by Edgar Lee Masters. The poems collectively narrate the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River, a fictional small town named after the Spoon River, which ran near Maste ...

'' by

Edgar Lee Masters Edgar Lee Masters (August 23, 1868 – March 5, 1950) was an American attorney, poet, biographer, and dramatist. He is the author of '' Spoon River Anthology'', ''The New Star Chamber and Other Essays'', ''Songs and Satires'', ''The Great V ...

, who lived there. Native American

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s are nearby at

Dickson Mounds Dickson Mounds is a Native American settlement site and burial mound complex near Lewistown, Illinois. It is located in Fulton County on a low bluff overlooking the Illinois River. It is a large burial complex containing at least two cemeter ...

off

Illinois Route 97 Illinois Route 97 (IL 97) is a north–south state highway in the central and western portions of the U.S. state of Illinois. It extends from I-55 Business (Business Loop I-55) in Springfield, Illinois, Springfield northwest to U.S. Hi ...

History

The city was named for

, the son of its first settler, Ossian M. Ross. The Lewistown post office has been in operation since 1831. It contains a

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. ''Tempera'' also refers to the paintings done in ...

on canvas mural titled ''Lewistown Milestones', painted by

Ida Abelman Ida York Abelman (1910–2002) was an American artist and muralist in the 1930s. Abelman was known as a Social Realist. She was born Ida York and lived her early life in New York City. At the age of 19 she married Larry Abelman, also an artist. ...

in 1941, depicting the

Lincoln–Douglas debates The Lincoln–Douglas debates were a series of seven debates in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party candidate for the United States Senate from Illinois, and incumbent Senator Stephen Douglas ...

. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the United States through the

Section of Painting and Sculpture Section, Sectioning, or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section s ...

, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the U.S. Treasury Department.

Geography

Lewistown is located in central Fulton County.

U.S. Route 24 U.S. Route 24 or U.S. Highway 24 (US 24) is one of the original United States Numbered Highways of 1926 which runs east and west for most of its routing. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Misso ...

passes through the center of the city, leading northeast to Peoria and southwest to Quincy.

leads north from Lewistown to Galesburg. IL 97 leads east out of Lewistown concurrently with US 24, then turns south, leading to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Springfield, the state capital. According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Lewistown has a total area of , all land.

Tourist attractions

Oak Hill Cemetery is located in Lewistown. This cemetery was made famous by

in his ''

''. The

Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge The Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge is a wetland wildlife refuge located in Waterford Township in Fulton County, Illinois across the Illinois River from the town of Havana. Only are currently managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as ...

, a wetland restoration, is located on the

Illinois River The Illinois River () is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River at approximately in length. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, the river has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins with the confluence of the Des Plaines ...

east of Lewistown. It is one of the largest

floodplain restoration Floodplain restoration is the process of fully or partially restoring a river's floodplain to its original conditions before having been affected by the construction of levees (dikes) and the draining of wetlands and marshes. The objectives of ...

projects in the United States outside the Florida

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

. Dickson Mounds Museum, southeast of Lewistown, is an archaeological museum dedicated to American Indian artifacts. The building itself is built on ancient Native American burial mounds. The Rasmussen Blacksmith Shop Museum is located on Main Street of Lewistown. It is one of the few

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

shops left in the United States. It has been run by the Rasmussen family since 1880. The Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive is an event sponsored by the city of Lewistown in the fall of each year. Lewistown Music in the Park is held in the city as well, with the festival earning the "Governor's Hometown Award" in 2021.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 2,041 people, 841 households, and 516 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,126 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.25%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.34%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.15% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.83% from other races, and 3.33% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.08% of the population. There were 841 households, out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.42% were married couples living together, 7.97% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.64% were non-families. 34.72% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.79% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 2.31. The city's age distribution consisted of 20.4% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 26.6% from 25 to 44, 26.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. The median income for a household in the city was $52,393, and the median income for a family was $73,077. Males had a median income of $50,063 versus $26,156 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $27,272. About 13.2% of families and 22.0% of the population 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 ...

, including 30.0% of those under age 18 and 13.0% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Thomas A. Boyd, congressman from Illinois, 1877–1881 *

Tony Butkovich Anthony J. Butkovich (April 4, 1921 – April 18, 1945) was a Croatian-American football fullback from the University of Illinois and spent his last year at Purdue. He was drafted by the Cleveland Rams in the first round of the 1944 NFL draft. ...

, graduated from Lewistown High School; football fullback for Illinois & Purdue; killed in action in Okinawa * Reed F. Cutler, Illinois legislator and lawyer, practiced law in Lewistown'Illinois Blue Book 1953–1954,' Biographical Sketch of Reed F. Cutler, pg. 268 * Jack Depler, professional football player and coach; born in Lewistown * William S. Jewell, Illinois legislator and lawyer *

Lloyd Loar Lloyd Allayre Loar (1886–1943) was an American musician, instrument designer and sound engineer. He is best known for his design work with the Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the early 20th century, including the F-5 model mandolin and ...

, Gibson sound engineer and master

luthier A luthier ( ; ) is a craftsperson who builds or repairs string instruments. Etymology The word ' is originally French and comes from ''luth'', the French word for "lute". The term was originally used for makers of lutes, but it came to be ...

in the early part of the 20th century; graduated from Lewistown High School in 1903 *

, poet, writer, lawyer *

John Wesley Ross John Wesley Ross (June 23, 1841 – July 29, 1902) was an American attorney who served as postmaster of Washington, D.C., as president of the D.C. Public Schools Board of Trustees, and as a member and president of the D.C. Board of Commissioner ...

, Washington, D.C., attorney and politician; Illinois state representative; born in Lewistown * Leonard F. Ross, brigadier general in the American Civil War; born in Lewistown *

, Illinois attorney, merchant, and U.S. congressman from Illinois' 9th district, 1863–1869; namesake of Lewiston * Ossian M. Ross, major in the War of 1812; founder of Lewistown * Isaac Newton Walker, a pioneer farmer and merchant * Lila Acheson Wallace, co-founder of

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...

; attended high school in Lewistown *

Barbara Woodell Barbara Woodell (born Barbara Mae Smith; May 25, 1910 – January 16, 1997) was an American stage, film and television actress, born in Lewistown, Illinois. Taking the stage name Woodell after her grandmother's name, she was married to composer ...

, actress; born in Lewistown

References

External links

City of Lewistown official website
{{authority control Cities in Illinois Cities in Fulton County, Illinois County seats in Illinois 1831 establishments in Illinois