The Marissa Academy is a historic school building located at 610 S. Main St. in Marissa,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. The building was built in 1891 for the Marissa Academy, a college preparatory academy which had graduated its first class two years prior. The private school was the first college preparatory school in the area. Graduating students at the academy could enroll at

Monmouth College Monmouth College is a Private college, private Presbyterian Church (USA), Presbyterian Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Monmouth, Illinois. It enrolls 727 students in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science de ...

without taking a qualifying examination under a special arrangement. In 1900, the academy closed after a public high school opened in Marissa. The building has since been used as a meeting hall for community groups and as additional space for Marissa's elementary school. It is now the headquarters of the Marissa Historical and Genealogical Society. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on October 28, 1994. There was a devastating fire on January 15, 2015, which destroyed most of the building and damaged much of the historical artifacts inside. The historical and genealogical society have set up shop in the old dollar store in Marissa. As yet they don't have all salvaged items (books, files) back from Smoke Services, but all of the newspaper microfilm and a new reader printer on which to view it are at the new facility.http://www.marissahgs.org

References

School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Queen Anne architecture in Illinois School buildings completed in 1891 Buildings and structures in St. Clair County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in St. Clair County, Illinois {{StClairCountyIL-NRHP-stub