Memorial Library Knights of Columbus Alignment Specialty Churches First Baptist Church First United Presbyterian Church St. Maurice Catholic Church The United Methodist Church Cemeteries St. Maurice Cemetery Morrisonville Cemetery Schools Morrisonville Elementary School St. Maurice Catholic School (Now Closed) Chrismont Safe School (Moved to Nokomis) Morrisonville Jr./Sr. High School Museums Morrisonville Historical Museum Notable people Augustus "Gus" Belt, the founder of the Steak 'n Shake food chain; born in Morrisonville Harry Forrester, member of Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame and Quincy University Hall of Fame; born in nearby Raymond, Illinois Wayne Rosenthal, state of Illinois official (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) Al Unser, catcher for the Detroit Tigers and Cincinnati Reds; born in Morrisonville The beginning of Morrisonville A former governor of Illinois, Thomas Carlin, entered the land on which Morrisonville is located on June 14, 1851, paying $1.25 per acre. Colonel James Lowry Donaldson Morrison, for whom the town was named, married Governor Carlin's daughter, Mary, and acquired title after her death. Col. Morrison laid out the town in the fall of 1869 under the supervision of the Decatur & East St. Louis Railroad Company, donating half of the land with the express condition that the railroad would make Morrisonville "a regular stopping place for all trains". In addition he donated 50 lots to those who were willing to settle permanently in the new townsite and erect homes on them. The main part of the town, comprising , was located on the west half of the north-west quarter of section 8, and was surveyed and platted by Richard M. Powell, county surveyor. The plat was filed in the County Recorder's office April 8, 1871. The following additions have been annexed: W.E. Morrison, T.F. Potts, Pence, Cloyd and Shull. Lumber for the first buildings in Morrisonville was hauled from Butler in Montgomery County—the railroad being built six months after the location of the town. The first resident was James Arnold; however, his tract was not within the limits of the town. The first settler in the town proper, then, was Richard McLean, who erected the first house in January, 1870. It was located near the depot and was used for saloon purposes. Joseph Poggenpohl built the first dwelling-house in February of the same year; quickly followed by N.N. Bell, James Sanford and A. Wall. N.N. Bell erected the first store building, and goods for his store were the first shipped