Mount Vernon, Illinois
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Mount Vernon is a city in Jefferson County, Illinois, United States, and its
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 ...
. The population was 14,600 at the 2020 census. Mount Vernon is the principal city of the Mount Vernon, Illinois micropolitan area, which includes all of Jefferson and
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counties.


History


19th century

Mt. Vernon was founded in 1817 by
Zadok Casey Zadok Casey (March 7, 1796 – September 4, 1862) was an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from Illinois and founded the city of Mount Vernon, Illinois. Biography Zadok Casey was born in Greene County, Georgia. Not ...
, who was elected to the State Senate in 1822 and was elected lieutenant governor in 1833. He served in the U.S. Congress between 1833 and 1843. The town was named for
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
's plantation,
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...
, which was named for
Edward Vernon Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' E ...
, a British naval hero. When the town was founded, there was no road to it. Travelers had to get there by either following the high ground from the north or crossing the swamps from the south. In the early 19th century the Goshen Road crossed Illinois in a northwesterly direction from Old Shawneetown, Illinois to the Goshen Settlement, near what is now Edwardsville. This road was the main road in Illinois. When Mt. Vernon was first settled, the Goshen Road made a wide arc across Jefferson County, crossing Casey Creek and the Big Muddy north of Mt. Vernon, avoiding the swamps to the south, but bypassing Mt. Vernon. The road entered the county at its southeast corner. It passed through, or near, what are now Opdyke, East Salem, Idlewood,
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and Walnut Hill. However, it was apparent to the early settlers that the town would fail without roads. In 1820–1821, Ben Hood and Carter Wilkey built a bridge over Casey Creek, to the southeast of town. This bridge was near the present bridge on Illinois Route 142. A road was built from there northwest, over ground that is now impassable, toward the old cemetery behind the modern Bethel Cemetery. Deep cuts through the old cemetery attest to the location of the road. From there the road probably followed modern Route 37 into town, somewhere shifting from 10th Street on west to 12th Street. After the state capital was moved to Vandalia in 1819, it became apparent that a road to Vandalia was needed. A party was sent out to the northwest to mark the road. In 1823, Thomas D. Minor and William Maxwell built the "Vandalia Road", now called the "Old Centralia Road." It runs northwest out of Mt. Vernon to Walnut Hill. Although legend says that this road is crooked because of the drunken state of the surveyors, the path is probably just the natural path of a pioneer road following the terrain. After the bridge and the Vandalia Road were built, Mt. Vernon was "on the map." The bridge across Casey Creek and the Vandalia Road provided a much shorter path across Jefferson County than the original Goshen Road. The new Goshen Road soon captured most of the traffic, and Mt. Vernon became an important stop on the road west. In 1836, Joshua Grant came to Mt. Vernon from
Christian County, Kentucky Christian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,748. Its county seat is Hopkinsville. The county was formed in 1797. Christian County is part of the Clarksville, Tennessee–Ke ...
with several of his sons and daughters. His family was a wealthy slave-owning family, most of whom soon moved to
Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
, probably because slavery was illegal in Illinois. Joshua left behind several daughters and one son, Angus McNeil Grant, who soon became important in the development of the town. "Upon his arrival, there were but four or five houses in the place, and from that time to the present (1883) he has constantly and ably exerted himself in securing to it the full development of its resources." Angus M. Grant's brother, Joshua Jr. taught school in Mt. Vernon in 1838. Some sources cite him as the first schoolteacher in the town. In 1848, in accordance with the new constitution of Illinois, the Illinois Supreme Court first Grand Division was relocated to Mt. Vernon. There were three divisions total comprised for the first (southern), second (central) and third (northern) areas of the state. The 5th District Appellate Court was constructed in 1854 and is still in use as the Appellate Court House. When the Supreme Court was in session, the important lawyers in Illinois, including
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
, gathered in Mt. Vernon to argue their cases. The lawyers gathered at the Mt. Vernon Inn, owned by Angus McNeil Grant and his in-laws, the Andersons. This building has been on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
since July 2, 1973. In the 1870s, Mt. Vernon for a time prohibited the sale of alcohol. A village called "East Mt. Vernon" was organized in 1877 to allow the sale of alcohol. A court fight eventually held that the village was organized illegally. Mt. Vernon then voted alcohol back in, and the area of East Mt. Vernon was annexed into the city. On February 19, 1888, a tornado cut a path a half mile wide through Mt. Vernon, killing 37 people and destroying more than 450 houses. The Jefferson County Courthouse was destroyed. This event was one of the first disasters to which the
American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...
responded.
Clara Barton Clarissa Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912) was an American nurse who founded the American Red Cross. She was a hospital nurse in the American Civil War, a teacher, and a patent clerk. Since nursing education was not then very ...
herself directed the relief efforts. The Mt. Vernon Car Manufacturing Company opened in 1889 after moving from Litchfield, Illinois. This relocation may have been an outgrowth of the relief efforts following the tornado. The
Louisville and Nashville Railroad The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of ...
hauled in some 1,900 carloads of supplies for reconstruction of the town. Somehow, this effort translated into a major business building railroad cars, at first building about ten cars per day. By 1909, the car shops were producing 25 cars per day, employing more than 1000 workers, with a payroll of $60,000 per month.


20th and 21st centuries

During World War II, portions of the "Car Shops", as they had to come to be known, were converted over to wartime production, including the production of bomb casings. Around 1939, a portion of the car shops was purchased by Precision Engineering, which originally built components for locomotives. During the 1970s, this company purchased old diesel/electric railroad locomotives, which it scrapped out or refurbished. Today, the plant thrives as a hub for National Railway Equipment Company which rebuilds and services diesel electric locomotives for rail lines across the globe. In 1954, the car shops closed, causing a temporary jump in unemployment throughout the city and the 108 communities called "home" by its former employees. The
Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
was built in the late 1950s and 1960s. The concurrency of I-57 and I-64 is along the western border of the ridgeline which divides the Big Muddy River and Casey Creek. The stack interchange on the southwest side of town complements the historic Casey Creek bridges, allowing much shorter travel times through the swamps to the east and south. In April 2007, Mount Vernon voters elected the first female mayor of the city, Mary Jane Chesley. She was sworn into office on May 7, 2007.


Geography

According to the 2010 census, Mount Vernon has a total area of , of which (or 99.38%) is land and (or 0.62%) is water. The community is about east of
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. Mt. Vernon is located on high ground between Casey Creek and the Big Muddy River, which join south of the town in what is now Rend Lake. In pre-settlement times the area around these waterways was a swamp, a heavily forested area that was waist-deep in water during much of the winter and during wet summers. Mt. Vernon was thus often surrounded by water and swamp on three sides. High ground was located to the north of Mt. Vernon. A ridge ran between the Big Muddy River and Casey Creek north toward what is now
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. There are high places both west and east of Mt. Vernon from which one can see the town as a forested point of high ground jutting out into the bottoms. These high places are: from the west, near the Woodlawn interchange off Interstate 64 and from the east, on Old Fairfield Road near Summersville School, with the highest point located on Old Route 15 right before it merges with New Route 15, near Bluford.


Climate


Demographics

As of the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 2020, there were 14,600 people, and the 2015-2019 data estimated 6,495 households residing in the city. The 2010 population density was . There were 7,534 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 80.6%
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, 14.7%
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 ...
, 0.3% Native American, 1% Asian, 0.0%
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 ...
, and 2.6% 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 2.4% of the population. There were 6,702 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35% of all households were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...
living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.6% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.92. In the city the population was spread out, with 24.3% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 20 to 24, and 18% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.3 years. Males represent 46.5% of the population, and 34% of the population was male and over 18. Women were 53.5% of the population, 41% of the population being female and over 18. The median income for a household in the city was $32,549, and the median income for a family was $36,660. Males had a median income of $28,324 versus $16,497 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 $21,283. About 19.9% of families and 23.7% 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 35.4% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of that age 65 or over. 53.9% of households earn less than $35,000. Of the population over age 25, 72.7% have no college degree. 13.6% of those over 25 have no high school diploma nor equivalent. 7.6% of the population has a bachelor's degree or higher. According to the US Census, health care services and social services employ the second most people with 1,001 estimated jobs. Accommodation and food services (restaurants) are the highest employer with 1,146 estimated jobs.


Crime

Illinois Annual Uniform Crime Report is an index of aggregate data for select categories of crime. It is maintained and published by Illinois State Police (ISP) 2019 2020 2021 2022/2023


Economy

Mount Vernon hosts a facility for
Continental Tire Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...
the Americas. It is also home to major distribution centers for NAPA, National Railway Equipment (NREC), ALCO and IPT (subsidiaries of NREC), along with many other smaller industries which are located in or in close proximity to the city's three industrial parks. There is discussion of creating a fourth industrial park which is to be used for distribution centers in the area of the new interchange, this park would encompass and would be eligible for Tax Increment Financing and Enterprise Zone benefits. Two new TIF (
Tax Increment Financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program i ...
) districts have been created, one TIF is at Exit 95 and is a conservation/industrial use. Exit 94 is an Industrial Park Conservation TIF. Pepsi has built a new service and distribution center that was completed in March 2011, it is located off of the Davidson Avenue extension.


Top employers

The Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (Audit) contains supplemental opinions and audit information from an Independent audit firm. The independent audit firm in 2023 was Roth&Co, a Chicago-based audit firm. Data for prior years located below.


Arts and culture

Mount Vernon is home to the Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, a 90-acre visual and performing arts institution. Cedarhurst celebrates the arts year-round with visual and performing arts programs for the public. The Cedarhurst Craft Fair is held yearly in early September on the grounds. In addition to its programs on property, the Mitchell Museum is located on the Cedarhurst grounds. The city is host to an event the first Saturday of each month from April through October called Market Days. This is an open-air market held near downtown and is similar to a craft fair or flea market. There is also the Jefferson County Historical Museum and Village located within incorporated Mount Vernon. The Museum and the Village reflect life in Jefferson County from the mid 19th century to more recent years. The C.E.Brehm Memorial Public Library, a Carnegie Library built in 1905, is a source of information to the community and is located downtown. Beatles guitarist George Harrison bought a guitar from Fenton's Music store in Mt. Vernon in 1963 while he was visiting his sister in nearby Benton, Illinois. The guitar sold at auction for $657,000 in 2014.


Parks and recreation

* Mount Vernon has multiple community parks with varying amenities.


Government


Local government

The city of Mount Vernon uses a Council-manager government with a mayor. The Mt. Vernon City Council meets regularly on the first and third Mondays each month. Meetings are moved to the following Tuesday if the first or third Monday falls on a holiday. The elective officers of the City of Mt. Vernon shall be a Mayor, four Councilmen, a City Clerk, and a City Treasurer. At the general election for City officers to be starting in January 1969 and every four years thereafter, there shall be elected a Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer, and two Councilmen. At the general election held in 1967 and every two years thereafter, two Councilmen shall be elected. The mayor is John Lewis.


Education

Mount Vernon City Schools operates elementary and middle schools. There are four education centers operated by school district 80 within the city: * Dr. Andy Hall Early Childhood Center (preschool) * Mount Vernon City Schools Primary Center (K-3) * J.L. Buford Intermediate Education Center (grades 4 and 5) * Zadok Casey Middle School (grades 6–8) Summersville Grade School of Summersville School District 79 is a public grade school located on the east side of Mt. Vernon (grades K-8) Mount Vernon Township High School is the community high school.


Media


Newspapers

* ''Mt. Vernon Morning Sentinel'' - daily newspaper located within the city that covers local, countywide, and regional news. * '' Mt. Vernon Register-News'' - a newspaper that served Mount Vernon, and published its last edition on February 6, 2018; the following day, CNHI announced the closure of both the Register-News and the McLeansboro Times-Leader.


Radio

* WMIX (AM) is an AM frequency radio station operating at 940 kHz hosting a talk radio format. * WMIX-FM is an FM radio station with a country music format on 94.1 MHz. * WDML is an FM radio station with an adult rock & roll format on 106.9 MHz.


Television

* WPXS is a television station broadcasting north of Mount Vernon operating on digital channel 21 and virtual channel 13.


Infrastructure


Transportation


Roads and highways

* runs north and south and is local * runs east and west and is local * runs north and south and is local * runs east and west and is local * *


Airports

* The Mount Vernon Airport has a 6,500-foot main runway, fixed-base operation, terminal building and storage hangars. Charter and private aviation services are provided, as well as refueling. The facility offers Shell 100 and Jet A fuels and pilot lounge with weight and exercise room, shower and snooze rooms, wireless internet in the airport terminal, complimentary refreshments, courtesy shuttle, as well as overnight hangar reservations. * MidAmerica Airport, a cargo airport approximately 45 miles from Mt. Vernon, located in Mascoutah, Illinois along
Interstate 64 Interstate 64 (I-64) is an east–west Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 70, I-70, U.S. Route 40 (US 40), and U.S. Route 61, US 61 in Wentzville, Missouri. Its eastern ter ...
.


Railroad service

* Evansville Western CSX *
Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...
*
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...
*
Burlington Northern Santa Fe BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...


Motor freight

* UPS Freight * FedEx Freight * Direct Motor Freight


Bus service

*
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* South Central Illinois Mass Transit District


Notable people

* Dwight Bernard, pitcher for the
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and
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* Ray Blades, left fielder for the
St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...
; manager for the Cardinals and
Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...
* Paul W. Broyles, businessman and Illinois state legislator * Louis Emmerson, 29th Governor of Illinois from 1929 to 1933 *
Randy Fenoli Randy Fenoli is an American television presenter and fashion designer who is mainly known for his work on wedding dresses and his own TV show '' Randy to the Rescue'' and '' Say Yes to the Dress''. He was the fashion director for the wedding dr ...
, television presenter and fashion designer * Crista Flanagan, comedic actress, roles including
MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series created by David Salzman, Fax Bahr, and Adam Small. Loosely based on the humor magazine '' Mad'', ''Mad TVs pre-taped satirical sketches were primarily parodie ...
and
Mad Men ''Mad Men'' is an American historical drama, period drama television series created by Matthew Weiner and produced by Lionsgate Television. It ran on cable network AMC (TV channel), AMC from July 19, 2007, to May 17, 2015, with seven seasons ...
* Reed Green, Illinois lawyer and politician * Nate Hawthorne, former NBA player for Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns * Michael Hicks, independent game designer and musician * Walt Kirk, University of Illinois and pro basketball player *
Jeane Kirkpatrick Jeane Duane Kirkpatrick (née Jordan; November 19, 1926December 7, 2006) was an American diplomat and political scientist who played a major role in the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration. An ardent anticommunist, she was a lon ...
, first woman to serve as
United States Ambassador to the United Nations The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the United States Mission to the United Nations, U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the Permanent representative to the U ...
; graduated from Mt. Vernon Township High School. * Clyde Lee, Illinois state legislator and businessman * Ben Moses, TV producer, writer, director, filmmaker * William L. O'Daniel, Illinois state legislator and farmer'Illinois Blue Book 2001-2002,' Biographical Sketch of William L. O'Daniel, pg. 125 * Charles W. Pavey, Illinois businessman and politician * Tazewell B. Tanner, Illinois state representative, judge, and newspaper editor * Kenny Troutt, founder and CEO, Excel Communications * Albert Watson, Illinois Supreme Court Justice * Albert Watson, II, US Army lieutenant general during World War II * Jane Willis, attorney, member of
blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...
team featured in ''
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'' best-selling book '' Bringing Down the House'' and the film
21 (2008 film) ''21'' is a 2008 American heist drama film directed by Robert Luketic and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film is inspired by the story of the MIT Blackjack Team as told in '' Bringing Down the House'', the best-selling 2003 book b ...
*
Mary Beth Zimmerman Mary Beth Zimmerman (born December 11, 1960) is an American professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) is an American organization for female golfers. The organization is headquartered at ...
, golfer


References

* History of Jefferson County, Illinois, William Henry Perrin, 1883 * Mt. Vernon Illinois A Pictorial History, Thomas A. Puckett, 1991, Bradley Publishing company


External links

* {{Authority control Cities in Jefferson County, Illinois County seats in Illinois Populated places established in 1817 1817 establishments in Illinois Territory Cities in Illinois