About six miles west of Peoria, Jubilee College State Park preserves the remains of Jubilee College, a frontier-era Episcopal school founded in 1839 by Bishop Philander Chase and operated from 1840 to 1862. One of Illinois’s earliest educational institutions and the first Episcopal school west of Ohio, it combined collegiate and theological study with a small supporting settlement of homes, mills, workshops, and a printing press. After fires and decline following Chase’s death, the college closed and the property later passed into state ownership. Today the site joins a restored historic core with thousands of acres of open space, trails, camping, and diverse wildlife habitat.