Waverly, Illinois

City: Waverly

County: Morgan

State: Illinois

Lat/Long: 39.5833, -89.9500

Located in the far southeastern corner of Morgan County, along the border with Sangamon County, Waverly was created in May 1836. White settlers founded the village with the hopes of establishing a school there, and a seminary and boarding house were two of the first buildings erected. The village grew slowly, but, by the late-1840s, it had blacksmiths, multiple grocery and drug stores, a brick yard, several churches, a flour mill, and even a steam-powered sawmill. Business investment increased steadily in the years leading up to the Civil War. When war erupted, patriotic sentiment ran high, and Waverly and the surrounding area raised two companies of men for the conflict.

Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary 3rd ed., (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1997), 511; History of Morgan County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Loyd, 1878), 420-24.