In 1805, a man by the name of Thomas Kirkpatrick was became the original settler of the city of Edwardsville. Kirkpatrick named the newly founded city after the first and only Territorial Governor of Illinois, Ninian Edwards, who held the office for nearly a decade from 1808-1818. Less than three months after the territory of Illinois was granted statehood by the federal government, the city was officially incorporated by the State on February 23rd, 1819. Located less than forty miles east of St. Louis, MO. Edwardsville’s population had reached a population exceeding 600 residents by 1840, less than forty years after Kirkpatrick originally settled it.
As mentioned earlier, Edwardsville was named after Illinois territorial governor Ninian Edwards, but he is not the only former governor of the now state to have ties to the city. Edwardsville has indeed produced not one, but five former governors! The list includes, Ninian Edwards, Edward Coles, John Reynolds, Thomas Ford and Charles Deneen.
Today, considered as part of the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, Edwardsville is a promising city that continues to grow. For many, the city is appealing for a number of reasons. It has what is considered to be a great public school district, a university and a growing local economy, just to name a few. The city’s expanding public school district (District 7), stretches across large portions of Madison county and has a current enrollment of approximately 7,500 students, and with the growing popularity of its local university, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), the city’s future hasn’t looked brighter.
In 2010, the United States census reported the city to have a population of 24,293, but with it currently being 2020, the next census is just around the corner, and it’s expected to report a major rise in the city’s population. Edwardsville not only offers history, but promise as well.
