Effingham

History

Effingham was first settled in 1814, and was known from then until 1859 as Broughton. In 1859, it became the county seat with buildings relocated from nearby (now deserted) Ewington. The community was named after General E. Effingham, a local surveyor. 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. On April 4, 1949, St. Anthony's Hospital caught fire and burned to the ground, killing 74 people. As a result, fire codes nationwide were improved. Due to extensive media coverage, including a Life magazine cover story, daytime segregation was enforced until at least the mid-1960s. 29 tornadoes have hit the town, the most powerful tornado up to date happened on June 17, 2026, rated EF-3 The path was 26 miles from north of town to the nearby town of Teutopolis.

Geography

According to the 2022 census gazetteer files, Effingham has a total area of , of which (or 99.34%) is land and (or 0.66%) is water. Effingham is served by a total of 5 highways, only 2 of them being interstates. Interstate 57 comes into Effingham County with Edgewood, Illinois. It officially comes into Effingham was a cross Directional T interchange with Interstate 70 west towards St. Louis. It runs concurrently with Interstate 57 as it goes through the city's southside exits. It makes its first with W Fayette Avenue and then takes a short curve east and makes a half diamond and half partial cloverleaf interchange with N Keller Drive and Illinois Route 33. After the interchange, it makes an interchange with U.S. Route 45 and the concurrency ends with a last Directional T interchange with Interstate 70. This time, Interstate 70 runs off east towards Indianapolis making Interstate 57 continue its route towards Mattoon, Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, and finally Chicago.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  614
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  533
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  512
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  507
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  490
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  475
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  371
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  366

Most recent

• M 3.51 — 2026-06-29
  6 km NE of West Salem, Illinois
• M 3.8 — 2026-01-20
  4 km NW of Ohlman, Illinois
• M 3.26 — 2025-05-13
  7 km SSW of Lerna, Illinois
• M 2.58 — 2023-10-26
  6 km SSE of Herrick, Illinois
• M 2.73 — 2023-09-10
  9 km E of Parkersburg, Illinois
• M 2.54 — 2022-06-16
  4 km ESE of Parkersburg, Illinois