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Brooklyn (popularly known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three miles northeast of downtown St. Louis , Missouri , it is one of the oldest known black settlements in the United States .
Learn about the history and heritage of Brooklyn, the first black town in America to be incorporated, across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Explore how ethnicity, class, religion, racism, and markets influenced the community's development and culture.
Brooklyn (also known as Lovejoy), is a village in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. Located two miles north of East St. Louis, Illinois and three miles northeast of downtown St. Louis, Missouri. Brooklyn is the Oldest Black Incorporated Town in the United States.
It was started as a settlement of African Americans escaping slavery, and later became the first black town in America to be incorporated. The growing town was also called Lovejoy in honor of abolitionist Elijah Lovejoy, who was killed by a pro-slavery mob in nearby Alton, Illinois, in 1837.
The City of Lovejoy is located in St. Clair County in the State of Illinois. Find directions to Lovejoy , browse local businesses, landmarks, get current traffic estimates, road conditions, and more.
22 kwi 2009 · In 1891 they adopted the new name of Lovejoy, after the murdered abolitionist Elijah J. Lovejoy, to distinguish it from a neighboring mostly-white town also named Brooklyn. Lovejoy did not enjoy much growth or prosperity in the 20th Century, and it lost many of its residents.
In 1891, the town's new post office was named Lovejoy (after the abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy, who had been assassinated in Alton, Illinois, in 1837); their high school was named after him. Black autonomy did not automatically yield unity in the village.
