Marshall is a city in 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 ...

of Clark County,

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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, located approximately west of

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in Vigo County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 58,389 and Terre Haute metropolitan area, its metropolitan area had a populati ...

. The population was 3,947 at the 2020 census.

History

Marshall was officially organized by William B. Archer in 1835, eight years after the

National Road The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government. Built between 1811 and 1837, the road connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main tran ...

entered the community. The city was named after

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall was incorporated on May 14, 1873. In 1863, Marshall was the scene of conflict in which local Copperheads, who opposed the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, sought to protect soldiers who had deserted from the Union Army. In March, 1863, an army detail from

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

arrested several deserters. A local judge, Charles H. Constable, freed the deserters and ordered the arrest of two Union sergeants on kidnapping charges. This resulted in the dispatch of 250 soldiers under the command of Col. Henry B. Carrington by special train from

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, who surrounded the courthouse, freed the sergeants and arrested judge Charles H. Constable. The judge was, however, absolved several months later after presenting a highly technical defense. Marshall was home to the

Handy Writers' Colony The Handy Writers' Colony, often called simply the Handy Colony or The Colony, was a writers' colony located in Marshall, Illinois, which operated from 1950–1964. The Handy Colony was founded in 1950 by Lowney Turner Handy and her husband, Harry ...

, 1950–1964. The most famous writer associated with the Colony was the novelist James Jones, who built a home in Marshall and lived there ca. 1952–1957.

Geography

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Marshall has a total area of , of which (or 99.59%) is land and (or 0.41%) is water.

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 3,947 people, 1,627 households, and 1,129 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 1,921 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 93.06%

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 ...

, 0.63%

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 ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.89% Asian, 1.49% from other races, and 3.67% 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 3.34% of the population. There were 1,627 households, out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.82% were married couples living together, 20.34% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.61% were non-families. 23.36% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.95% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.17. The city's age distribution consisted of 21.4% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 22.1% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 24.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $51,201, and the median income for a family was $65,387. Males had a median income of $40,613 versus $32,910 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 $29,448. About 12.5% of families and 10.9% 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 14.8% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The downtown district is centered on the county courthouse. The town's major employer, ZF, operates an automotive electronics manufacturing facility, employing a thousand area residents. Marshall is the site of the oldest continually operated hotel in Illinois, the Archer House.

Arts and culture

Every autumn Marshall holds a Fall Festival. The Marshall post office contains an oil on canvas mural, ''Harvest'', painted in 1938 by Miriam McKinnie. Murals were produced from 1934 to 1943 in the

through the Section of Painting and Sculpture, later called the Section of Fine Arts, of the Treasury Department.

Government

The City of Marshall City Council consists of nine members: eight aldermen and the mayor. Current officeholders are: :John Hasten, Mayor (term expires 2025); :Bob Nelson, Alderman Ward 1 (term expires 2025); :Foster Propst, Alderman Ward 1 (term expires 2023); :Vickie Wallace, Alderman Ward 2 (term expires 2021); :Michael Smitley, Alderman Ward 2 (term expires 2025); :Jarod Green, Alderman Ward 3 (term expires 2025); :Warren LeFever, Alderman Ward 3 (term expires 2023); :Joshua Sanders, Alderman Ward 4 (term expires 2023); :Logan Sanders, Alderman Ward 4 (term expires 2021).

Notable people

* Robert H. Birch, American western outlaw, raised in Marshall, IL * Ed Carpenter, IndyCar Series driver, 2013 Indy pole sitter; raised in Marshall, IL * Charles H. Constable, Attorney,

Illinois State Senator The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under th ...

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

, and real estate entrepreneur; close friend of Abraham Lincoln; lived in Marshall * Walter E. Cork, Illinois state representative and businessman, lived in Marshall * Gerald Forsythe, businessman and auto racing magnate; owner of Forsythe Championship Racing; born in Marshall * James Jones, novelist, lived in Marshall ca. 1952–1957 * John W. Lewis Jr., politician; born in Marshall * Ed Mayer,

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

; born in Marshall * John Scholfield, jurist and state legislator; lived in Marshall'Scholfield Dead,' The Argus (Illinois Wesleyan University), February 14, 1893 * Jacob Zimmerman, United States Representative, newspaper editor, and businessman; lived in Marshall

References

External links

City of Marshall Illinois Official Website

at GenealogyTrails.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Illinois Cities in Clark County, Illinois County seats in Illinois Populated places established in 1835 Cities in Illinois