Batavia Institute

The Batavia Institute is a Registered Historic Place in Batavia, Illinois, US.

Batavia Institute
LocationBatavia, Kane County, Illinois, United States
Coordinates41°50′40.49″N 88°18′58.6″W
Built1853
ArchitectTown, Elijah Shumway
Architectural styleGreek Revival
NRHP reference No.76000712 [1]
Added to NRHPAugust 13, 1976

Batavia Institute

Batavia Institute, a private academy, was chartered on 12 February 1853 by 13 men, including Rev. Stephen Peet, the Congregational minister, Elijah Shumway Town, Joel McKee, John Van Nortwick, Dennison K. Town, who settled in Batavia in 1839 as its first physician, and Isaac G. Wilson.[2]

The building's central part, which still stands in Batavia at 333 South Jefferson Street, at Union Avenue, was constructed in 1853–1854 of locally quarried limestone at a cost of $20,000. The architect Elijah Shumway Town designed the building in a Greek Revival style.[3]

Proposed normal school

Bids were opened by the State Board of Education in Peoria on 7 May 1857. The first proposition on the agenda was from Batavia, which offered a subscription of $15,000, with the land and building belonging to the Batavia Institute, valued at $30,000, making $45,000 in all. Washington, in Tazewell County, Bloomington, and Peoria submitted proposals, as well.[4][5]

National Register of Historic Places

The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on 13 August 1976.[3]

Notes
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. Batavia Institute: Charter (12 February 1853). The original, handwritten charter is now in the Archives at Beloit College in Wisconsin.
  3. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form" (PDF). HAARGIS Database. Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
  4. Proceedings of the [Illinois] Board of Education (Peoria), May 7, 1857.
  5. Marshall, Helen E. Grandest of Enterprises: Illinois State University, 1857–1957. Normal, Ill.: Illinois State University, 1956, pp. 22–23
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