- Danville
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/dan"vil/, n.1. a city in S Virginia. 45,642.2. a city in E Illinois. 38,985.3. a town in W California. 26,446.4. a town in central Kentucky. 12,942.
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city, seat (1827) of Vermilion county, eastern Illinois, U.S. It lies on the junction of forks of the Vermilion River (there bridged) near the Indiana border, about 35 miles (55 km) east of Champaign. Early inhabitants of the area included Miami, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi Indians, and a number of trails passed through or terminated there. The location of salt deposits a few miles west of the village provided the primary incentive for early settlement. Shortly after Vermilion county was organized in 1826, Dan Beckwith and Guy W. Smith, two early settlers who were interested in the saltworks, offered to donate a tract of land for a county seat. The offer was accepted, and the new county seat was named Danville in honour of Beckwith. Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln, Abraham) practiced law in the city in the 1840s and '50s.The area was formerly a coal-mining centre, and a few mines remain in operation. Danville's economy is based on agriculture (especially corn [maize] and soybeans) and diversified industry, notably metal products, heavy machinery, food processing, packaging, and heat transfer equipment. The city is the seat of Danville Area Community College (1946). The Vermilion County Museum contains Lincoln memorabilia. Also notable is the World War I Victory Memorial (1922), sculpted by Lorado Taft (Taft, Lorado). Kickapoo State Park (built on restored strip-mining land), Middle Fork State Fish and Wildlife Area (including Illinois's only national scenic river), Harry “Babe” Woodyard State Natural Area, and Lake Vermilion are nearby. Inc. 1869. Pop. (1990) 33,828; (2000) 33,904.city, seat of Boyle county, central Kentucky, U.S., in the Bluegrass region, 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Lexington. Located along the Old Wilderness Road, it was settled in about 1775 and named for Walker Daniel, who purchased the deed for the site (1784). It was capital of the Kentucky District of Virginia from 1785 until Kentucky became a state in 1792. Constitution Square (site of 10 conventions that drafted the first state constitution) is preserved as a state shrine. The house where Dr. Ephraim McDowell performed the first successful ovariotomy (1809) has been restored by the Kentucky State Medical Association.Danville is the seat of Centre College (1819) and of the Kentucky School for the Deaf (1823). It serves as a market for burley tobacco, livestock, and horses. Printing is an important component of the economy; manufactures include appliances, furniture, and shoes. Herrington Lake, impounded on the Dix River, lies 5 miles (8 km) to the northeast. Perryville Battlefield (Perryville, Battle of) State Historic Site, scene of Kentucky's bloodiest battle (October 8, 1862) of the American Civil War, is located 10 miles (16 km) west of the city. Inc. town, 1789; city, 1836. Pop. (1990) 12,420; (2000) 15,477.city, administratively independent of, but located in, Pittsylvania county, south-central Virginia, U.S. It lies along the Dan River, just north of the North Carolina border, 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Greensboro, North Carolina.The earliest settlement on the site was known as The Ford at Wynn's Falls (a site visited by explorer William Byrd (Byrd, William, of Westover) in 1728). Chartered in 1793, it became an inspection warehouse and river transport point for tobacco. After completion of the railroad (1848), it became one of the nation's largest flue-cured, bright-leaf tobacco markets. During the American Civil War, Danville was the site of a Confederate prison camp; more than 1,300 Union prisoners are buried in Danville National Cemetery. For a week following the fall of Richmond (April 3, 1865), Danville was the seat of the Confederacy (Confederate States of America); the Confederate Memorial Mansion, now the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, is known as the Last Capitol of the Confederacy.Development of the Dan River Cotton Mills (now Dan River, Inc.) in the 1880s made the city a leading textile centre; the mills were once the largest single-unit textile factory in the world. Besides textiles and tobacco, the city's manufactures include gypsum products, tires, glass, and bricks. Cheap hydroelectric power for the city was gained by harnessing the falls (pinnacles) of the Dan River. The city owns and operates the Pinnacles Hydro-Electric Station, completed in 1938. Danville has two institutions of higher learning: Averett College (1859) and Danville Community College (1968; originally a technical school established in 1936). Lady Astor (Astor, Nancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess) (née Nancy Witcher), the first woman to sit in the British House of Commons (Parliament, Houses of), was born (1879) in Danville. Inc. town, 1833; city, 1870. Pop. (1990) city, 53,056; Danville MSA, 108,711; (2000) city, 48,411; Danville MSA, 110,156.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
