Petersburg is a city in Menard County, on the bluffs and part of the floodplain overlooking the Sangamon River. The population was 2,299 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Menard County. Petersburg is located approximately two miles north of New Salem, the original settlement where Abraham Lincoln first settled when he came to Illinois.
The town began as a planned community organized by real estate speculators Peter Lukins (for whom the town is named) and George Warburton. Abraham Lincoln worked as the surveyor who first mapped, measured and help to divide lots on the land. Petersburg quickly grew, due to an advantageous placement on the river, becoming the county seat in the 1830s and eventually drawing off the population of New Salem, which was abandoned in 1840.
Many of the lush Victorian-era homes built by early wealthy inhabitants still stand on the bluffs of Petersburg. The town itself takes great pride in these structures, which has even preserved some of the original cobblestone streets to complement the classical architecture.
The town's name came about when Peter Lukins and George Warburton, two notorious sots, argued over what to call it. They finally settled on a card game in which the winner would be able to name it how he liked. Mr. Lukins won the game. If Warburton had won, the town might have been known as "Georgetown."
Petersburg was also one of the early homes of lawyer and writer Edgar Lee Masters who wrote the famous book of poems titled Spoon River Anthology.
Petersburg students go to schools in the Porta Community Unit School District #202
