Effingham (Illinois)

Effingham County

17-22736

Effingham is a city and the county seat of Effingham County in the southeastern center of the U.S. state of Illinois. In 2000, Effingham had 12,384 inhabitants; up to the 2009 estimate, the population increased to 12,557.

Effingham is located 153 km from St. Louis, 104 miles from Terre Haute, 114 miles from Champaign, and 94 miles from Mt Vernon, whose metropolitan area.

History

In the area of present-day Effingham settled around 1814 to the early pioneers along the Little Wabash River. Noteworthy growth and economic boom experienced the city but it was only in the 1850s with the local construction of the railway. 1859 Effingham was then raised to the County Seat.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Ralph Herbert Turner ( born 1919 ), sociologist
• Carl Kemme ( b. 1960 ), Roman Catholic priest, Bishop of Wichita
• Jimmy Kite (born 1976 ), race car driver

Events

In Effingham place on a weekend in September, the annual " Corvette Funfest " on the grounds of the Mid America Motorworks Inc. instead. In recent years, up to 14,000 Corvette enthusiasts were present, including their vehicles. The visitors and the participants came from most U.S. states and several countries, including Germany, France, Belgium and the Czech Republic.