Picture courtesy of Jim Kuntz

Union County was created on January 2, 1818 by an act of the Territory of Illinois. Two months later, on March 2, 1818, the County Commissioners established Jonesboro on land donated by John and Juliet Grammer to serve as county seat. In the 1850's it was decided that the Illinois Central would run through this area. To insure that the railroad would go through the town, Jonesboro was to have a survey made for the railroad. It is said that when the town failed to meet this request, Winstead Davie of Jonesboro submitted a survey routing the railroad through his property east of Jonesboro. A town was established by the railroad and Davie named it Anna in honor of his wife on March 3, 1854.

Jonesboro was the site of the third of seven Lincoln-Douglas debates on September 15, 1858. Lincoln received a quiet welcome upon his arrival and spent the night before the debate as the guest of D.L. Phillips of Anna. The otherwise uneventful evening was enlivened by the appearance of Donati's Comet. Douglas's arrival was better received than Lincoln's, however, the debate was attended by less than 1500 unenthusiastic people -- the smallest crowd of the series -- and neither man gained ground.

Anna served as one of the nine rendezvous points in Illinois for troops during the Civil War and eight regiments were assembled here. In 1869 the legislature determined to locate the Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane at Anna. It is now Anna State Hospital.

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