Warsaw, Illinois

**Warsaw** is a city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,510 at the 2020 census. People know the city for its historic downtown and the Warsaw Brewery.

## History

The city of Warsaw began in 1814. Future president Zachary Taylor founded Fort Johnson on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River across from the mouth of the Des Moines River. Fort Johnson was occupied only for a few weeks before it was burned. In 1815 another military camp, Fort Edwards, was built nearby at a different location. Warsaw became an important fur trading post and one of the earliest European-American settlements in western Illinois.

During the 1840s, Warsaw was one of the centers of opposition to the Mormons at Nauvoo. Thomas C. Sharp, who edited the _Warsaw Signal_ at this time lead the anti-Mormons.  The Mormons tried to set up a settlement at Warren, a site just south of Warsaw.  In 1841 Willard Richards moved to Warsaw to oversee the settlement of Warren, but due to the public response to writings by Sharp and other problems, the Mormon settlement was abandoned in 1842. In October 1844, a great gathering was announced in Warsaw. Although it claimed to be a "wolf hunt," people knew that the "wolves" to be hunted were the Mormons. When Governor Thomas Ford heard about it, he sent militia troops to disperse the gathering. Most Mormons left the area for Utah in 1846.

The city has a well-preserved downtown with a number of remaining historic businesses. Founded by German immigrants, the Warsaw Brewery opened in 1861 and operated for more than 100 years, ending production in 1971.  The facility was renovated and reopened in 2006 as a bar and restaurant.

## Notable residents

- John Milton Hay, an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, was raised in Warsaw.  He served as United States Secretary of State from 1898 to 1905 under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
- Illinois politician Benjamin F. Marsh represented the area and is buried in Warsaw.

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Warsaw, Illinois
- **settlement type**: List of cities in Illinois, City
- **image map**: File:Hancock County Illinois Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Warsaw Highlighted.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Warsaw in Hancock County, Illinois.
- **image map1**: Illinois in United States (US48).svg
- **map caption1**: Location of Illinois in the United States
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: United States
- **subdivision type1**: State
- **subdivision name1**: Illinois
- **subdivision type2**: County
- **subdivision name2**: Hancock County, Illinois, Hancock
- **subdivision type3**: Township
- **established title**: Founded
- **leader title**: Mayor
- **leader title1**: Mayor
- **unit pref**: Imperial
- **area total km2**: 19.34
- **area total sq mi**: 7.47
- **area land km2**: 16.89
- **area land sq mi**: 6.52
- **area water km2**: 2.46
- **area water sq mi**: 0.95
- **elevation ft**: 659
- **population as of**: 2020 United States Census, 2020
- **population total**: 1510
- **population density km2**: 89.42
- **population density sq mi**: 231.60
- **timezone1**: North American Central Time Zone, CST
- **utc offset1**: -6
- **timezone1 dst**: North American Central Time Zone, CDT
- **utc offset1 dst**: -5
- **postal code type**: ZIP code, ZIP Code(s)
- **postal code**: 62379
- **area code**: Area code 217, 217
- **blank name**: Federal Information Processing Standards, FIPS code
- **blank info**: 17-78942
- **blank1 name**: Geographic Names Information System, GNIS feature ID
- **blank1 info**: 2397200
- **blank2 name sec2**: Wikimedia Commons
- **blank2 info sec2**: Warsaw, Illinois