Editing Geneseo, Illinois (section)

===Expansion===
[[File:Geneseo, Illinois downtown elephants, 1890.jpg|thumb|"When the circus came to town." Downtown Geneseo, Illinois circa 1890]]The Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railroad, also known as the [[Rock Island Line]], was surveyed in 1850 to run from Chicago to Rock Island with a prominent stop in Geneseo. The line was completed in June 1854 and, immediately thereafter, the [[Grand Excursion]] promotional voyage that took prominent politicians and well-off citizens on a voyage to and down the Mississippi, stopped in the small town.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1854.htm |title=Geneseo in 1854 |access-date=June 24, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624103330/http://geneseohistoricalmuseum.com/1854.htm |archive-date=June 24, 2015 }}</ref> Although Geneseo had grown at a near stand-still since its inception, reaching only 500 persons by 1850, it soon exploded to 5,500 just 11 years later (within the 10-square mile area). Due to its large growth, Geneseo officially became a town in 1855 and a city in 1865.<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> Like many towns that experienced a growth spurt in the middle of the 19th century, Geneseo's wealthier families constructed many of their homes in accordance with [[Victorian Architecture]] and a large number of them remain today, giving credence to the name "Victorian Geneseo."

Simultaneously with the expansion of the town, Geneseo's first newspaper, the ''Geneseo Democratic Standard'', started in August 1855 by James Bowie. It collapsed not a year and a half later. In June 1856, I.S. Hyatt founded the ''Geneseo Republic'' and began publishing in a building on Main Street. Although founded as a Republican Party newspaper,<ref name="files.usgwarchives.net"/> it is no longer affiliated with any political party. It is still in operation and remains the only Geneseo-only newspaper.

[[File:Geneseo Collegiate Institute circa 1895.jpg|thumb|Students outside Atkinson Hall at the Geneseo Collegiate Institute, circa 1895|350x350px|left]]

Geneseo Central School, the first high school in Geneseo, was built in 1856 and became coalesced with Geneseo Seminary in 1857.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It was used until 1866 when the North Side Building, was constructed. It was expanded in 1871 and was demolished in 1970.<ref name="archive.org"/> [[South Side School (Geneseo, Illinois)|South Side School]], constructed by [[John W. Ross (Iowa architect)|John W. Ross]] in 1889 on the corner of College Avenue and Second Street, became the official high school for Geneseo in 1890.

In 1883, two higher-education institutions were established in Geneseo: the Geneseo Collegiate Institute (GCI) and the Northwestern Normal School (NNS). GCI was a [[Presbyterian]] academy which housed a small religious high school for a time.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="visithenrycounty.com">{{Cite web |url=http://www.visithenrycounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Historic-Geneseo-Walking-Tour.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105102151/http://www.visithenrycounty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Historic-Geneseo-Walking-Tour.pdf |archive-date=January 5, 2016 |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Although a large expansion was planned for GCI in the early 1900s, the school financially collapsed in 1922<ref name="archive.org"/> and was razed in 1930.<ref name="visithenrycounty.com"/> The Northwestern Normal School was a [[secular]] college.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It, too, collapsed financially and in 1901 John C. Hammond purchased NNS' old dormitory and presented it to the City of Geneseo to establish Hammond Henry Hospital on November 28, 1901.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cityofgeneseo.com/why_geneseo.php |title=Archived copy |access-date=September 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907235723/http://www.cityofgeneseo.com/why_geneseo.php |archive-date=September 7, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hammondhenry.com/ABOUTUS/OurHistory.aspx|title=Welcome to Hammond-Henry Hospital|website=www.hammondhenry.com}}</ref>