1865 - The Salvation Army was founded in London, England, by William and Catherine Booth. Booth was a former Methodist minister turned evangelist who began preaching in the slums.
1878 - Organization adopted the name The Salvation Army. Meetings were held in theaters, tents, dance halls, and open air.
1880 - The Army began work in New York City and combined Gospel preaching with meeting the social ills of hunger, homelessness, and poverty. Commissioner George Scott Railton and seven women Salvationists arrived in the central United States. Their purpose was to establish The Salvation Army National Headquarters in St. Louis, which they believed was the center of the United States.
1885 - The Salvation Army began working in Illinois.
1888 - The Salvation Army begins its ministry in Decatur in October of 1888.