Thomas Kirkpatrick built a cabin above Cahokia Creek in 1805. The town was platted and named for Ninian Edwards, the Illinois territorial governor, around 1816. Edwardsville was chartered on February 23, 1819. It is the county seat of Madison County. A U.S. land office opened here in 1816. Route 66 later ran through town.
The downtown square has restaurants, a courthouse, and a walk. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is the other half of the week. Parents and the chamber pushed for a public university in the Metro East in 1955. Classes started in 1957 at centers in Alton and East St. Louis. Groundbreaking for the Edwardsville campus was in 1963. Peck Hall and Lovejoy Library opened in 1965 on about 2,660 acres of former farmland. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum designed the campus.
Edwardsville CUSD 7 is the district many Metro East buyers name first. Glen Carbon is next door. Collinsville sits closer to I-255 and the river for a lot of Missouri jobs. You are buying in Illinois. Ask a lender licensed in Illinois and a CPA who works Illinois returns.
Why people stay
- The square is a place you use on a weeknight.
- SIUE gives the town a campus calendar.
- Edwardsville CUSD 7 is a large part of why families cross the river.
- Glen Carbon is next door when you want the same area and a different pin.
- I-270 and I-255 still reach St. Louis jobs.
Homes here
Homes for sale Edwardsville IL are an Illinois purchase. Homes for sale Glen Carbon IL and homes for sale Collinsville IL sit in the same conversation with different clocks. A St. Louis realtor who works select Metro East will say so before you tour. The south and Metro East guide sets Edwardsville next to Collinsville and Jefferson County.