Editing Elizabethtown, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Rose Hotel in Elizabethtown.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Elizabethtown was founded around the McFarland Tavern in 1812, which was soon rebuilt as the [[Rose Hotel (Elizabethtown, Illinois)|Rose Hotel]]. Until the 1960s when it closed as a hotel the Rose Hotel was the oldest continuously run hotel in the state of Illinois and now a state historic site.]]
One of the earliest settlers in the area of the future village of Elizabethtown was James McFarland who arrived around 1809. The village was later founded around the McFarland Tavern built in 1812. The tavern later became the site of the [[Rose Hotel (Elizabethtown, Illinois)|Rose Hotel]] named after the owner Sarah Rose. Up until the 1960s when it closed as a hotel the Rose Hotel was the oldest continuously run hotel in the state of Illinois and is now a state historic site. Elizabethtown was named after James McFarland's wife. The First Baptist Church located in Elizabethtown, is the oldest Baptist church congregation in Illinois and the [[List of the oldest churches in the United States|oldest known Protestant church in Illinois]], founded in 1806.
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=13088&type=top |title=Elizabethtown Credits Teens in Flood Fight |access-date=May 8, 2011 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Elizabethtown is referred to as "'''Etown'''" by the local population as the nickname is preserved in the name of the downtown E'town River Restaurant.