Editing Galesburg, Illinois (section)

==History==
Galesburg was founded by [[George Washington Gale]], a Presbyterian minister from [[New York (state)|New York]] state who had formulated the concept of the [[manual labor college]] and first implemented it at the [[Oneida Institute]] near [[Utica, New York|Utica]], New York. In 1836 Gale publicized a subscription- and land purchase-based plan to found [[manual labor college]]s in the [[Mississippi River]] valley.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gale |first=George Washington |date=1836 |title=Circular and Plan |url=https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/circular-and-plan |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141215010317/https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/circular-and-plan |archive-date=December 15, 2014 |website=Knox College}}</ref> Land was purchased for this purpose in [[Knox County, Illinois|Knox County]] and in 1837 the first subscribers to the college-founding plan arrived and began to settle what would become Galesburg.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last=Forssberg |first=Grant |title=The Origins of Knox College |url=https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/perspectives-on-knox-history/origins-of-knox-college |access-date=October 15, 2019 |publisher=Knox College}}</ref>

Galesburg, populated from the start by abolitionists, was home to one of Illinois's first [[abolitionism|anti-slavery]] societies and was a stop on the [[Underground Railroad]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Underground Railroad Freedom Station – Galesburg Colony at Knox College |url=https://www.knox.edu/about-knox/our-history/knox-and-galesburg-history/underground-railroad |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100601171751/http://www.knox.edu/x12131.xml |archive-date=June 1, 2010 |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=Knox College}}</ref> The city was the site of the fifth [[Lincoln–Douglas debates|Lincoln–Douglas debate]]. on October 7, 1858. Galesburg also was the home of [[Mary Ann Bickerdyke|Mary Ann "Mother" Bickerdyke]], who provided hospital care for [[Union Army|Union]] soldiers during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].

In later years, Galesburg became the birthplace of poet [[Carl Sandburg]], artist [[Dorothea Tanning]], and former [[Major League Baseball]] star [[Jim Sundberg]]. Sandburg's boyhood home is maintained by the [[Illinois Historic Preservation Agency]] as the [[Carl Sandburg State Historic Site]]. It includes the cottage he was born in, a modern museum, the rock under which he and his wife Lilian are buried, and a performance venue.

Throughout much of its history, Galesburg has been inextricably tied to the [[railroad]] industry. Local businessmen were major backers of the first railroad to connect Illinois's then two biggest cities—[[Chicago]] and [[Quincy, Illinois|Quincy]]—as well as a third leg initially terminating across the [[Mississippi River]] from [[Burlington, Iowa]], eventually connecting to it via bridge and thence onward to the Western frontier. The [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] (CB&Q) sited major rail sorting yards here, including the first to use [[hump yard|hump sorting]]. The CB&Q also built a major [[Galesburg station (Amtrak)#History|depot]] on South Seminary Street that was controversially torn down and replaced by a much smaller [[Galesburg station (Amtrak)|station]] in 1983. The [[Galesburg Yard|yard]] is still used by the [[BNSF Railway]].

[[File:BNSF Galesburg.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.4|A BNSF train passes through central Galesburg near the site of the [[Galesburg Station (Santa Fe)|former Santa Fe depot]].]]

In the late 19th century, when the [[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] connected its service through to Chicago, it also laid track through Galesburg and built [[Galesburg Station (Santa Fe)|its own railroad depot]]. The depot remained in operation until the construction of the [[Cameron Connector]] southwest of town<ref>{{cite news |author=Cherrington |first=Rex |date=June 20, 1996 |title=Did Galesburg businessmen really need to pay to bring the Santa Fe Railway to Town? |url=http://www.thezephyr.com/archives/santafe.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717043939/http://www.thezephyr.com/archives/santafe.htm |archive-date=July 17, 2011 |access-date=February 16, 2011 |newspaper=The Zephyr}}</ref> enabled [[Amtrak]] to reroute the ''[[Southwest Chief]]'' via the Mendota Subdivision and join the ''[[California Zephyr]]'' and ''[[Illinois Zephyr]]'' at the Burlington Northern depot. A series of mergers eventually united both lines under the ownership of [[BNSF Railway]], carrying an average of seven freight trains per hour between them. With the closure of the [[Maytag]] plant in 2004, BNSF is once again Galesburg's largest private employer.

Galesburg was home to the pioneering [[Brass Era car|brass era]] automobile company [[Western Tool Works (automobile company)|Western]], which produced the Gale, named for the town.<ref>Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.51.</ref>

Galesburg was home to [[minor league baseball]] from 1890 to 1914. The [[Galesburg Pavers]] was the last name of the minor league team based in Galesburg. Galesburg teams played as members of the [[Eastern Iowa League]] (1895), [[Central Interstate League]] (1890), [[Illinois-Iowa League]] (1890), [[Illinois-Missouri League]] (1908–1909) and [[Central Association]] (1910–1912, 1914).{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

[[Baseball Hall of Fame]] members [[Grover Cleveland Alexander]] (1909) and [[Sam Rice]] (1912) played for Galesburg. Rice had to leave the Galesburg team in 1912, when his wife, two children, parents, and two sisters were killed in a tornado. Galesburg teams played at Illinois Field (1908–1912, 1914), [[Lombard College]] Field (1908–1912, 1914) and Willard Field at [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]] (1890, 1895).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi|title=Register Team Encyclopedia|website=Baseball-Reference.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/593ed95f|title=Sam Rice &#124; Society for American Baseball Research|website=sabr.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.galesburg.com/article/20120416/NEWS/304169953|title=Tom Wilson: Fond memories of Galesburg baseball emporiums|website=The Register-Mail}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.galesburg.com/article/20080611/NEWS/306119891|title=WILSON: Life in Galesburg's minor league baseball|first=Tom|last=Wilson|website=The Register-Mail}}</ref>

[[Lombard College]] was in Galesburg until 1930, and is now the site of Lombard Middle School.

The Carr Mansion at 560 North Prairie Street was the site of a presidential cabinet meeting held in 1899 by U.S. President [[William McKinley]] and U.S. Secretary of State [[John Hay]].