How did Edwardsville get its name?
The Ninian Edwards statue, on the corner of St. Louis and West Vandalia streets in downtown Edwardsville, was taken off its pedestal on Monday while a new location for it is planned. The statue has been the target of planned removal since October 2020 as Edwards' pro-slavery views have come into public attention over the past year. While the park where the statue is located was renamed from Ninian Edwards Park to City Park, the town of Edwardsville itself was named after Ninian Edwards as well. One of the first European-American settlers of the area, Thomas Kirkpatrick, a South Carolina native, named the area after the lone territorial governor in Illinois history. One of the most important assets in the initial founding and settling of Edwardsville and Central Illinois, the Edwards Trace, was also named for Ninian.