Among its supporters were judge and future Supreme Court Justice, David Davis and local businessman and land holder Jesse W. Fell whose friend, Abraham Lincoln, was the attorney hired by the board of education to draw up legal documents to secure the school's funding.

Its classes were initially held in downtown Bloomington, occupying space in Major's Hall, which was previously the site of Lincoln's "Lost Speech."

With the completion of Old Main in 1860, the school moved to its current campus in what was then the village of North Bloomington, which was chartered as the town of "Normal" in 1865.

[16] Initially designed by William Saunders,[17] the Illinois State University campus quadrangle (commonly known as The Quad), is a popular outdoor venue for students and the local community.

Lined with benches and shady trees, the site is a popular spot for students to relax, study, and play informal games of sports.

Outdoor events such as the annual RSO showcase, Festival ISU[18] and Concerts on the Quad[19] are popular in the campus community.

Cook Hall, named for the university's fourth president, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since the winter of 1986.

The ISU Quad is also host to the Fell Arboretum, which is part of a 490-acre site that represents over 154 species of trees from the state of Illinois.

The Fell Arboretum is part of the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus Higher Education Institution.

[21] Founded as a teachers' college, the university now offers a range of programs at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels.

Illinois State is accredited by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

[25] It has a separate office in Normal[26] Milner Library has a collection of more than 1.63 million volumes and an ever-increasing number of electronic materials accessible by the Internet to students and faculty.

[27] In addition to making physical collections available for in-person use,[28] the Rayfield Archives has made many of the university's official publications freely available for online research use.

[39] ISU owns a public radio station WGLT ("News, Blues and All That Jazz"), which broadcasts on 89.1 in Normal, 103.5 in Peoria, and by streaming audio.

The ghost of Angeline Vernon Milner, the university's first librarian, is said to haunt the former library building, now called Williams Hall.

In addition to the Redbird teams linked above, the ice hockey club is the oldest registered student organization on campus.

[citation needed] The Grossinger Motors Arena located in downtown Bloomington is home to the university's three club ice hockey teams, which compete in ACHA Divisions 1, 2, and 3.