This view looks south from the corner of E. Prairie Ave. and N. Main St., and shows the entrance to the block long Merchant St. on the left, considered the heart of Decatur, and the 100 block of N. Main St. on the right. All of the buildings in this view south to Lincoln Square (stoplight one block away on N. Main) lie within the Decatur Downtown Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The buildings in this area were all constructed between 1854 and 1916.
Decatur is the seat of Macon County. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in central Illinois. Decatur has an economy based on industrial and agricultural commodity processing and production. The city is home of private Millikin University and public Richland Community College.
Decatur's estimated population for 2019 was 70,746, making Decatur the thirteenth-most populous city in Illinois, and the state's sixth-most populous city outside the Chicago metropolitan area.
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