Industry High School - Eagle Yearbook (Industry, IL)

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Before streets and roads were paved, people were often forced to use mudboats like scows, drawn by mules or oxen, to come to town since no horse-drawn vehicles could get through the deep mud. There were no sidewalks for some time. The first ones were made of planks laid side by side and fasted to stringers. Next came regular board walks some three feet wide, followed by brick walks, and finally concrete walks, The Chicago Burlington at Quincy Railroad's Kansas City Line came through in 1855-56, the depot being about 400 feet west of the present crossing on West Jackson Street. The Macomb, Industry and Littleton Railway was apparently in service as late as 1929 but has since been discontinued. Macomb is 'now a city of 10,312 11950 city directory censusj and extends over 2 314 miles. Its location in the center of a vast farmland area, with no large towns within a radius of 30-40 miles, makes it a natural hub of activity, not only as a retail and wholesale center, but also as a gathering place for men of all professions--law- yers, doctors, dentists, optometrists, etc. The number of fine stores surrounding the center courthouse square is constantly increasing. Macomb has achieved a reputation as a medical center. There are two hospitals, totaling 150 beds, Other institutions established to serve the public interest include two banks, one established in 1890 and the other in 1871, a public library, 19 churches and three hotels totaling 190 beds. One of the hotels, the largest, is community-owned. Recreational facilities include 4 parks, 6 playgrounds, a country club complete with golf course, and Argyle Lake project, two moving picture theaters and two bowl- ing alleys. The present number of telephones in the Macomb area has soared to around the 4,500 mark. Many organizations, including the Rotary, Kiwanis, Optimists, Business and Pro- fessional Women's Club, Elks. Moose and Macomb Woman's Club and many others, are represented in the city, One of the early industries of Macomb was the Tinsley Flour Mill, where such ex- cellent flour was made that it was sold quite extensively, much of it in St. Louis. Flour was then sold in barrels and the Tinsley Mill, located on South Randolph Street, had its own cooper shop and made its own barrels. Other early industries included a brick manufacturing plant and a woolen mill, both of which are absent from the cur- rent scene,

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Three courthouses have been built at different stages in Macomb's history, all be- ing erected on the same location where the present one stands today, The first court- house, made of logs, was built in 1831 at a cost of under 370. The second building, erected in 1838, was a brick structure costing around 38.000, In 1860 Judge C. L. Higbee was addressing a political meeting at the courthouse when the building began to crack. The crowd dispersed very quickly, and after that, whenever a meeting was assembled, if a slight noise hinted that the building might fall, it was almost impos- sible to retain any audience. Contracts for the present courthouse were let in 1868. Together with its furnishings, the present structure cost around S155,000. The plan for the city of Macomb was given by James Campbell, pioneer store- keeper whose home was the second building erected in Macomb. The unusual ar- rangement of the streets entering the courthouse square and the rest of the lay-out of the city were copied directly from the ground plan of Mr, Campbe1l's home city, Frankfort, Kentucky. Just after the founding of the town came the great snow, For fhree days and nights the snow fell, pilingup to fourteen feet on the level and in drifted places still deeper. Some histories tell of children in the late '60's walking to school on top of the ice-encrusted snow over the tops of fences. Education in Macomb began in 1834 when a one-room one-window log school house was opened as a private school, Each pupil's tuition cost his parents one dollar in cash and three dollars in merchandise or produce. In 1835 McDonough College was established. This undertaking proved a failure as did four successive attempts by va- rious groups, All were short lived, Finally, in 1899 Western Illinois State Normal School, now known as Western State College, was established on a campus of approx- imately 70 acres on the edge of the city. The college has prospered and grown, now numbering some 1,500 students and sponsoring a Training School for grade school pupils in connection with the college teacher-training program, In place of the one-room schoolhouse Macomb now has five grade schools, one parochial, one Junior High School and a Senior High School in addition to the Training School at the college. It is difficult for people of this day, accustomed to the present 23 miles of paved streets in Macomb, the electric street lights and the cement sidewalks, to realize the primitive conditions which existed in 1856 when Macomb was incorporated as a city, Candles or oil lamps were used in doors, while lanterns were carried when people were out on the streets at night. The first street lights were gas, tended by men who went about early in the evening to light them and again later to extinguish them, the streets being dark from midnight on, until the present all-night electric lights were installed.

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Industrial development in Macomb may be characterized as sound and conserva- tive. A good proportion of this development is based upon the exploitation of rich and practically inexhaustible natural resources, which makes for permanency, Since Ma- comb is known as one of the principal clay manufacturing centers of the state, it is to be expected that industries using clay as their basic raw material are in the majority. However, there are enough other important manufacturing organizations that the city's growth may be said to be distinctive because it has attracted such a wide variety of in- dustries, This diversity of industry gives labor a wide choice of employment, It is significant that labor troubles are unknown in Macomb, and the outlook for the future presents an unclouded horizon of smooth, satisfactory relationships between labor and their employers. Some 1.250 persons are employed in Macomb industries at an annual payroll of about 52.'735.000. This figure does not include Western State College's annual pay- roll of 3800. 000. Besides the lucrative clay deposits, McDonough County possesses a rich potential supply of coal, which at one time was actively mined but except for local mines is now neglected, Petroleum deposits too are to be found underlying the area, and at one time a number of oil wells were in production. Sand, gravel and limestone are also to be found in this area, but little has been done to develop any of these commercially, Wealthy as McDonough County is in raw material resources, its greatest asset is undoubtedly its rich soil, The adaptability of the county to the raising of good feed crops--corn often averages 65 bu. to the acre--gives rise to hog-raising, cattle feed- ing and the allied dairying industries. Many spacious farms surrounding Macomb are dotted with prime Aberdeen Angus cattle or Hampshire or Poland China pigs. Thriving poultry farms, stock exchanges, a large auction barn, a strong Farm Bureau and several companies engaged in the manufacture of cheese, ice-cream and other dairy products are further evidence of the Community's extensive agricultural program. A large Fair Grounds on the edge of the city, houses the .annual County Fair with its many livestock and other farm exhibits, The first newspaper in Macomb was the Enterprise, started in 1855 on the second floor of a building on the south side of the square. The Macomb Journal has had the longest continuous publication, from 1865 to the present. Other edits of the community include the Western Courier, published by Western during the college year, and the McDonough County Times.