Jacksonville, Illinois

==Culture==
[[File:"Township 15 North, Range 10 West," from Atlas Map of Morgan County, Illinois.jpg|thumb|An atlas map from 1872 showing Portuguese landowners living near Jacksonville.]]

In 2005, [[Sufjan Stevens]] released ''[[Illinois (Sufjan Stevens album)|Illinois]]'',<!-- DO NOT CHANGE THE NAME OF THE ALBUM: the album is "Illinois", one track is "Come on Feel the Illinoise": see the Talk:Sufjan_Stevens page--> a concept album making reference to various people and places associated with the state. Its fifth track, "Jacksonville," refers to various landmarks in the town, such as Nichols Park. It also contains a story about A. W. Jackson, a "colored preacher" urban legend supposes the town is named after, as well as President [[Andrew Jackson]] (President from 1829 to 1837) after whom the town's officials say it is actually named.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jacksonvilleil.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={A69B0752-CE5B-46E8-8CA9-E297734325BB} |title=History of Jacksonville – Jacksonville |publisher=Jacksonvilleil.govoffice2.com |date=August 26, 1955 |access-date=May 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209180740/http://www.jacksonvilleil.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BA69B0752-CE5B-46E8-8CA9-E297734325BB%7D |archive-date=February 9, 2012 }}</ref>

The [[Grammy]]-winning album ''[[Stones in the Road]]'' by singer-songwriter [[Mary Chapin Carpenter]] features the song "John Doe #24" that describes a series of events that occurred in Jacksonville relating to the person on whose life the song is based. The song tells the story of a blind and deaf man who was found wandering the streets in Jacksonville in 1945. The man was hospitalized for diabetes and kept in various institutions until he died nearly 50 years later in 1993. During his 48 years of institutionalization, nobody ever found out his name, nor did anyone who knew or was related to him come to Jacksonville to establish his identity. It was speculated that he was originally from New Orleans, but this was never verified. Likewise, how he came to Jacksonville remains a mystery to this day.

Cultural offerings include the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Jacksonville Theatre Guild, the Art Association of Jacksonville and its David Strawn Art Gallery, as well as many public events and activities hosted by MacMurray College and Illinois College. Recent additions to the cultural scene include the Imagine Foundation and the Eclectic art gallery, both located in the city's downtown.  The [http://www.jacksonvilleareamuseum.org/ Jacksonville Area Museum], located just outside the downtown area, is home to many historical artifacts and is the repository of the MacMurray College Archive collection.

Jacksonville also holds the unusual distinction of having a large number of pipe organs for a city of its size – eleven in all – found at various local churches, as well as both of its four-year colleges.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Church Pipe Organs of Jacksonville, Illinois : Four Centuries of Organ Music CD |url=https://dev.okdnet.net/books-videos-audios/audios/church-pipe-organs-of-jacksonville-illinois-four-centuries-of-organ-music-cd.html |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=OKDnet Emporium |language=en}}</ref>

A notable [[Portuguese American]] community has existed on the outskirts of Jacksonville since the nineteenth century.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/jacksonville.html |title= Portuguese Land Owners near Jacksonville |website= Library of Congress |access-date=June 18, 2020}}</ref> The origins of this community can be traced to 1838, when a Scottish reverend named [[Robert Reid Kalley]] visited the Portuguese island of [[Madeira]] and converted a number of the locals to [[Protestantism in Portugal|Protestantism]].<ref name="loc.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/portam/exiles.html |title= Protestant Exiles from Madeira in Illinois |website= Library of Congress |access-date=June 18, 2020}}</ref> These Madeiran Protestants faced discrimination and alienation due to being Protestant in a largely [[Catholicism in Portugal|Catholic]] community, causing the converts to relocate from Madeira to the Caribbean island of [[Trinidad]] before coming to the United States in 1849 and settling near Jacksonville.<ref name="loc.gov"/>