Editing Marseilles, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:"Industrial Marseilles" by Avery Johnson (1938).JPG|thumb|left|1938 WPA mural, "Industrial Marseilles" by Avery Johnson. in Marseilles Post Office]]
Lovell Kimball arrived at the area along the [[Illinois River]] known as the Grand Rapids in 1833 from [[Watertown, New York]]. Kimball, aware that the [[Illinois-Michigan Canal|Illinois-Michigan Canal Bill]] had passed and the canal would eventually reach the rapids, hired a surveyor to lay out a town. Kimball called the town Marseilles in reference to the [[France|French]] city of [[Marseille, France|Marseille]] as he hoped it would become a similar industrial center in Illinois. Marseilles, pronounced the same as the French city, was officially platted on June 3, 1835; the plat was revised twice for railroad and canal [[right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-ways]].<ref name=nrhp/>

===Nabisco Building===
In 1921 the National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) built an eight-story corrugated cardboard box production plant in Marseilles, the largest industrial building in the state (outside of Chicago) at the time, and the first air-conditioned factory in the Midwest. Nabisco was a major employer in the area but ceased production at the plant in 2002.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Balynas|first1=Joe|title=Former Nabisco Plant, located in Marseilles, IL|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/muledriver/2390397979|website=flicker.com|date=January 18, 2007|publisher=Flickr|access-date=October 8, 2015}}</ref>

===Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial===
In 2004 the [[Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial]] was dedicated to the service men and women who gave their lives fighting in US wars anywhere in the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www2.illinois.gov/veterans/features/memorials/Pages/middle-east-conflicts-memorial.aspx|title=Middle East Conflicts Memorial Wall – Memorials|website=www2.illinois.gov|access-date=2019-05-28}}</ref>  The Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial is the first US memorial to servicemen dedicated while an actual war was ongoing.  Currently, the earliest names on the wall are from 1967 commemorating the deaths during the [[USS Liberty incident]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://middleeastconflictswall.org/about/|title=About the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois|website=Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial|access-date=2019-05-28|archive-date=May 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527222352/https://middleeastconflictswall.org/about/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Andrew Bacevich]], American 
historian, felt that all presidential candidates should visit Marseilles, commenting that "Just as there are all-but-mandatory venues in Iowa and New Hampshire where candidates are expected to appear, why not make Marseilles, Illinois, one as well. Let all of the candidates competing to oust Donald Trump from the White House (their ranks now approaching two dozen) schedule at least one campaign stop at the Middle East Conflicts Wall, press entourage suitably in tow."  [[Andrew Bacevich]] lost his son in Iraq, his son's name is included in the monument.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://truthout.org/articles/the-town-where-presidents-should-be-forced-to-confront-forever-wars/|title=The Town Where Presidents Should Be Forced to Confront "Forever Wars"|last=Bacevich|first=Andrew J.|website=Truthout|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-31}}</ref>

=== Museums ===
In 2016, Marseilles resident Seattle Sutton founded a community museum, located in the [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Depot (Marseilles, Illinois)|Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]] building.  Its collection includes historical items from the Nabisco factory, other Marseilles businesses, and archived recordings of Marseilles war veterans.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ssmmi.org/ |title=Marseilles Museum |access-date=March 8, 2022 |archive-date=February 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217133920/http://www.ssmmi.org/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>