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== History == Effingham was first settled in 1814, and was known from then until 1859 as Broughton.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Effingham |url=http://www.effinghamil.com/History/81/a/36 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120728100602/http://www.effinghamil.com/History/81/a/36 |archive-date=July 28, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1859, it became the county seat with buildings relocated from nearby (now deserted) Ewington.<ref>{{Cite web |last=News |first=Kevin E. Perkins For the Daily |date=October 6, 2018 |title=EDN Bicentennial Series: Ewington was first Effingham County seat |url=https://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/bicentennial/edn-bicentennial-series-ewington-was-first-effingham-county-seat/article_1064b898-046a-544f-a19c-2366fa06e618.html |website=Effingham Daily News |access-date=October 17, 2019 |archive-date=June 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200629233912/https://www.effinghamdailynews.com/news/bicentennial/edn-bicentennial-series-ewington-was-first-effingham-county-seat/article_1064b898-046a-544f-a19c-2366fa06e618.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The community was named after General E. Effingham, a local surveyor.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3WI3AQAAMAAJ&pg=PT46 |title=Illinois Central Magazine |publisher=Illinois Central Railroad Company |year=1922 |page=46}}</ref> In the late 1880s, local citizens founded Austin College, which lasted for several decades, and ultimately was purchased to become the Illinois College of Photography, also known as Bissel College. That school closed due to the [[Great Depression]] in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perkins |first=Kevin |title=Austin College |url=http://www.frontiernet.net/~kevinperkins/austin_college.htm |access-date=August 28, 2018 |website=www.frontiernet.net |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926153705/http://www.frontiernet.net/~kevinperkins/austin_college.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 4, 1949, [[St. Anthony's Hospital Fire|St. Anthony's Hospital]] caught fire and burned to the ground, killing 74 people.<ref name=life/> As a result, [[fire code]]s nationwide were improved. Due to extensive media coverage, including a [[Life (magazine)|''Life'']] magazine cover story,<ref name="life">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ME4EAAAAMBAJ |title=LIFE |date=April 18, 1949 |publisher=Time Inc |language=en}}</ref> donations for rebuilding the hospital came from all 48 states and several foreign countries. Effingham was a [[sundown town]];<ref name="Loewen2006a">{{Cite web |last=Loewen |first=James W. |date=July 9, 2006 |title=Honda's All-American Sundown Town |url=http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/27821 |access-date=August 20, 2017 |website=History News Network |publisher=The George Washington University |archive-date=August 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821003136/http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/27821 |url-status=live }}</ref> daytime segregation was enforced until at least the mid-1960s.<ref name="Loewen2006b">{{Cite book |last=Loewen |first=James W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FPxJ_aG_B-8C |title=Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension Of American Racism |date=September 29, 2005 |publisher=The New Press |isbn=1595586741 |page=231}}</ref>
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