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DECATUR
entered the twentieth century with a vision of
larger things for the future than it had yet
experienced, but even that vision was not big
enough to see all that has actually been
accomplished.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE
SOME CITY OFFICERS IN 1900
Left to Right - Right top
corner B. C. Applegate, chief of police; C. W.
Devore, fire chief.
Back row - Leon Sullivan, city electrician;
Martin C. Herman, waterworks engineer; Adam
Seeforth, city treasurer; Richard O. Rosen,
superintendent of streets; James C. Brand,
alderman; Isaac W. Ehrman, oil inspector; M.
Fahay, alderman.
Second row - William T. Peake, alderman; George
V. Loring, city engineer; F. M. Young, alderman;
E. R. Culver, alderman; Will Peters, alderman;
Joe Bisby, alderman.
Lower row - J. B. Siewers, alderman; C. F.
Shilling, alderman; Frank M. Meridith, alderman;
H. Frank Robbins, city comptroller; George A.
Stadler, mayor; Mont Peniwell, city clerk; Alois
Young, alderman; C. C. Walters, city attorney.
Some of the city officers that year were not
present when this picture was taken in 1900.
The story of Decatur since
1900 is the story of just one big improvement
after another. Some of these have already
been described in other chapters - the creation
of Lake Decatur, the coming of the James
Millikin university, the building of the
interurban lines by the Illinois Traction
System, extension and improvement of the street
car and bus system and other achievements.
One of the biggest
improvements to this city, as well as other
cities of the state, is the system of paved
roads, brought about by the rapid increase in
automobile traffic. Decatur is now out of
the mud, so far as road connection with other
cities is concerned. The first stretch
laid out of Decatur was the section of Route 10
from Decatur to Harristown. It was not
long until the county was crossed from east to
west and north to south by hard roads.
Big projects put through
inside the city for the benefit of traffic were
the Van Dyke street viaduct, the Staley viaduct,
and subways on North Jasper, East Prairie, South
Franklin, West Decatur and West Forest streets.
Subways added in the last few years are the
Becker subway under the B. and O. near Nelson
park bridge, and the Brush college subway, east
of Decatur.
Miles and miles of paved
streets, sewer and water main extensions have
been added since 1900.
The building of the I. T. S.
shops, the vast extensions made by the Wabash
railroad, and extensions now under way by the
Baltimore and Ohio railroad have been making
Decatur of more and more importance as a
railroad center. Erection of the Staley
viaduct over the forty-five Wabash tracks on
22nd street was an improvement of great value in
the east section of the city.
Much of Decatur's development
industrially has been in the northeast section,
and a big feature of that development in the
last year has been the building of a joint belt
line track to add to the transportation
facilities of that area. This line was
built by the Illinosi Central, Pennsylvania and
Illinois Terminal railroads. It has been
named the Lake Decatur and Eastern.
BUILDING
The period since 1900 has
been featured by the number of new buildings,
both business and public structures and
residences, as well as schools, theaters and
factories.
Every year has seen hundreds
of new homes erected. The best year, so
far as number of houses built is concerned, was
1925, when 806 residences were constructed.
Decatur's biggest year in the
total amount of money spent on new buildings,
including buildings of all kinds, was the year
1927, when the total reached the sum of
$5,786,465.
Before that, one of the
biggest building years was 1919, when a total of
$2,975,840 was spent. About seventy-five
business and factory buildings, as well as
several hundred residences, were erected that
year. It was the year in which a number of
the Staley plant buildings were put up.
The year 1909 was also a
remarkable year for building, not only for work
completed but for projects started which meant
considerable development later.
That year occurred the
disastrous fire in the business section which
destroyed the Morehouse & Wells company building
and structure adjoining it on the west and east,
the fire extending to buildings on Merchant
street and on Water street. It was one of
the worst fires Decatur had suffered, yet it
meant the rebuilding of the business houses of
those streets, resulting in larger and better
structures.
In that year a number of
other big building enterprises were carried out.
The Knights of Pythias orphan's home was
completed, the Y. W. C. A. building was
finished, and the Citizens bank building was
erected at the corner of North Park and Water
streets.
That year the Decatur Railway
and Light company spent $100,000 in improvements
on gas plant, gas mains, electric power station
and other properties. That year saw the
beginning of the new high school project which
was completed the following year. It was
the time work and starting on the I. T. S. belt
line, built at a cost of $300,000, the I. T. S.
shops were being erected at a cost of $100,000,
and the waterworks and light plant was being
rebuilt at a cost of $300,000.
An important real estate
transaction in 1909 was the sale of the Hill
property at Pine and William streets, which
resulted eventually in one of Decatur's most
attractive residence section, that of Millikin
place and the 800 block West William.
In 1912 Decatur lost its old
tabernacle at North Main and Prairie streets,
which was torn down to make way for the Bachman
building. Not long afterwards the building
across the street on the Shaffer property, one
of the oldest structures in the city, gave way
to the new store and office building erected by
W. H. Suffern, who had purchased the ground
several years before.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
NORTH MAIN AND PRAIRIE IN 1912
A number of building of a
public nature have been added. The Young
Men's Christian Association building, 151 West
Prairie, representing an investment of $75,000,
was formally opened to the public, Oct. 15,
1906. The Young Women's Christian
Association was organized Jan. 22, 1906, and in
January 1910, moved into its new building, 436
North Main street, erected at a cost of $50,000.
New homes for the Boy's Opportunity home and the
Salvation Army have been erected in the last
five years. The Knights of Pythias homes,
the Masonic temple, and various lodge and club
buildings have been constructed in the period
under review.
In 1924 J. J. Moran erected
the first funeral home, at the corner of Water
and Eldorado streets. Two others have been
erected since, the L. A. Monson funeral home,
239 West Prairie, and the Dawson & Wikoff
establishment at West Wood and College streets.
A big addition to the
facilities of Decatur was teh Decatur and Macon
county hospital, the main building of which was
opened Jan. 1, 1916. It has been erected
at a cost of $246,849.30. The Millikin
wing, financed by trustees of the James Millikin
estate, was opened in 1918. The
tuberculosis sanatorium, operated financially by
special taxation, but managed in connection with
the hospital, was opened in July, 1912.
Other buildings added have been the preventorium
and nurses' home. The latter, erected at a
cost of $138,529, was financed by private
subscriptions, the largest of which was given by
W. C. Johns, and the home was named in his honor
the "W. C. Johns home for nurses". At the
present writing (1930) a city hospital is being
erected on the grounds.
An interesting tablet placed
in the hospital gives honor to the twenty-one
women of the Hospital Aid society who worked for
years to raise a fund to build a hospital for
Decatur. On the tablet their names are
inscribed. The earnings of these women
formed the nucleus of the fund raised by popular
subscription to build the hospital. Its
planning and construction was the work of Dr.
William Barnes.
The Wabash hospital was
erected in 1902-03 at East Grand avenue and
Warren street, by the company and Wabash
employes for employes of that road.
Additions from time to time
to St. Mary's hospital have brought it to a high
standard of equipment and accommodations.
Decatur suffered another big
fire in 1914 when the Powers building, including
the opera house and Linn & Scruggs store,
burned. When it was rebuilt, the opera
house was replaced by the Hotel Orlando.
INDUSTRIES
The beginning and marvelous
growth of the A. F. Staley Manufacturing company
plant would be a story in itself.
Augustus E. Staley, who
started in the starch making business in
Baltimore in 1898, bought the Wellington Starch
works, formerly the Pratt cereal mill, in
Decatur in 1909, and from it has developed a
$20,000,000 starch works. Mr. Staley is a
member of the board of directors of the Wabash
railway system.
Both industries established
in previous years and new ones which have come
have made big development in the last
twenty-five years. Among them are the
Staley and Mueller Manufacturing companies,
heretofore mentioned; Decatur Malleable Iron
company, Leader Iron works, Mississippi Valley
Structural Steel company, Wagner Malleable Iron
company, Biflex Products company, Union Iron
works, Osgood & Sons company, Home Manufacturing
company, Chambers, Bering and Quinlan company,
Faries Manufacturing company, Polar company, G.
S. Lyon & Sons Lumber and Manufacturing company,
Decatur Lumber and Manufacturing company,
Decatur Brick Manufacturing company, Williams
Sealing corporation, Decatur Coal company,
Decatur Coffin company, Walrus Manufacturing
company, U. S. Manufacturing company, Decatur
Pump company, Decatur Garment company, Review
Printing and Stationery company, Herald Printing
and Stationery company and many others.
The Association of Commerce
(first called the Chamber of Commerce) was
organized in the summer of 1903 for the purpose
of securing new industries for Decatur.
One of the first it was instrumental in bringing
was the Decatur Bridge company, now the
Mississippi Valley Structural Steel company.
Previous to the organization
of the Chamber of Commerce Decatur had a
Business Men's Association, which worked along
the same line for two or three years. Its
officers in the year 1901 were:
President - A. R. Montgomery
Vice President - C. A. Wait
Secretary - J. S. McClelland
Treasurer - W. H. Elwood |
Directors - J. M.
Brownback, Bernard Bradley, Walter
Hutchin, Wilson M. Bering, W. L.
Shellabarger, Frank Curtis, Will
Bachman, Frank Shlaudeman and B. O.
McReynolds |
When the Chamber of Commerce
was organized in 1903, first officers were:
President - Felix B. Tait
First vice president - Theron A.
Powers
Second vice president - Charles M.
Hurst
Treasurer - Harry Shlaudeman |
Secretary - John H.
Culver
Directors - Robert Mueller, C. A.
Burks, Bernard Bradley, W. L.
Shellabarger, Theron A. Powers,
Harry Shlaudeman, F. B. Tait, C. M.
Hurst and George W. Mueller. |
The Association has been
active in every line of community development,
the promotion of good will, securing of hard
roads and the like, as well as in bringing new
industries. Two real estate developments
handled by the association were the Chamber of
Commerce addition in the northeast section,
promoted in 1903, and the Terrace Gardens
addition in the southeast section, during and
after the World war. The first was helpful
in financing donations of land to the Wabash for
shops and in locating industries in the Chamber
of Commerce addition.
The Association of Commerce
has brought new industries to the city, and the
new industries have brought new citizens.
It was instrumental in 1906 in keeping the
Wabash terminals in Decatur, when the railroad
was planning to move because of lack of room
here. At that time $60,000 was raised to
buy land needed by the road, and the Wabash
interests, which then employed t00 men, remained
in Decatur.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
SUNDAY TABERNACLE CROWD, 1908
In more recent years, when
there was prospect of the Staley Manufacturing
company moving the Peoria, because of lack of
water supply in Decatur, the association helped
to bring about the creation of Lake Decatur, and
the industry remained here.
During the years since 1900
there has been a great change to the type of
church buildings in the city. Old
buildings have been replaced by new, modern
structures. New churches have been
organized and have erected buildings. More
than thirty new church buildings have been
erected since 1900. Nearly all of
Decatur's churches now are housed in attractive
places of worship.
In 1908 came the Rev. William
A. Sunday revival meeting, held in a big
tabernacle at the corner of Union and Eldorado
streets. It resulted in many thousands of
conversions and quickened the religious life of
the city.
In the township election held
in the spring following the Sunday revival,
Decatur township voted "dry" by a majority of
1,047, the vote being 4,668 in favor of local
option, to 3,621 opposed.
Two years later the
proposition came up again, and was lost.
The vote in that election was 4,478 in favor of
saloons, to 3,940 opposed. Decatur again
had its saloons.
A third time, in 1914, the
proposition was put to vote of the people
This time the women had the vote, and the
township again voted "dry", and since then
Decatur has had no open saloons. The vote
polled in that election was the largest in the
history of the township up to that time.
The vote stood 9,068 against saloons to 7,329
for them.
The campaigns for and against
saloons were hotly contested ones. In the
campaign of 1910 a local option parade was a
feature. In this parade little folks and
grown-ups participated, the little ones carrying
banners with such signs as "Save Our Homes" and
"Please Protect Us".
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
LOCAL OPTION PARADE, 1910
An event of importance in the
religious world occurred May 24, 1906, when the
union of the Presbyterian Church in the United
States and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church
was effected following action of the Cumberland
Presbyterian general assembly in session in
Decatur. As soon as this action had been
taken the union was declared in effect by the
Presbyterian general assembly in session at Des
Moines.
the year 1912 in Decatur was
made memorable by two occurrences, one the big
sleet storm which came on March 20 and paralyzed
the city and Central Illinois, and the other the
big home coming celebration which took place in
August.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
SLEET DAMAGE AT BROADWAY AND
WILLIAM
Sheets of ice more than an
inch thick covered trees and buildings during
the sleet storm. Thousands of trees were
crushed by the weight of the ice. Light
poles were snapped off, wires were torn down,
streets were blockaded, electric current
cut off, leaving streets in inky darkness at
night. The cracking and crashing of the
ice-laden branches were terrifying to the
passerby. Decatur had once before had a
serious sleet storm, back in 1883, but the storm
of 1912 exceeded it greatly in spectacular
effects and in damage.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
WEST MACON AT UNION, AFTER SLEET
STORM
Homecoming week was Aug. 6 -
10, 1912. Hundreds of former Decatur
residents came back at that time to greet old
friends and see the old home town. Races,
parade, baby shows, fraternal pageant band
concerts were some of the special events.
One parade feature was a living flag made up of
456 girls in the national colors.
[INSERT PICTURE HERE]
HOMECOMING PARADE, 1912
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OLD SETTLERS REUNION, 1911
Memories of the early days of
the county are not allowed to die out.
Every year the Macon County Settlers
association, which has been in existence since
about 1883, holds its reunion at Fairview park,
and talks over the old days. That reunion
used to bring the biggest crowd of the year to
Fairview, but it does no longer. The
picture shows the reunion crowd of 1911.
The splendid growth in
population of Decatur is not the result of a
boom, but is a steady, substantial kind of
growth. In the first ten years of the
twentieth century the population increased from
20,754 to 31,140. The next ten years it
increased to 43,818. The 1930 census
showed a population of 57,511. With such a
start on its second century of history, Decatur
can look forward to becoming one of the big
cities of the Central West.
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