Industry High School - Eagle Yearbook (Industry, IL)

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The Chrcago Burl1ngton8tQu1ncyRa1lroad sKansas Crty Lrne came through rn 1855 56 the depot berng about 400 feet west of the present crossrng on West Jackson Street The Macomb lndustry and Lrttleton Rarlway was apparently rn servtce as late as 1929 but has stnce been drscontrnued Macomb IS now a crty of 10 312 11950 ctty drrectory census, and extends over 2 3X4 square mlles Its locatron rn the center of a vast farmland area wlth no large towns w1th1n a radrus of 30 40 mrles makes rt a natural hub of actrvtty not only as a retarl and wholesale center but also as a gatherrng place for men of all professrons lawyers doctors dentrsrs, optometrrsts, etc The number of fme stores surroundrng the center courthouse square rs constantly rncreasrng Macomb has achreved a reputa tron as a medxcal center There are two hosprtals totalrng 150 beds Other rnstrtu t1ons establrshed to serve the publlc mterests include two banks one establrshed rn 1890 and the other tn 1871 a publlc lrbrary 19 churches and three hotels totalrng 190 beds One of the hotels largest rs commumty owned Recreatronal facrlrtres rnclude 4 parks 6 playgrounds a country club complete wrth golf course an Argyle Lake project two movlng ptcture theaters and two bowl mg alleys The present number of telephones rn the Macomb area has soared to around the 4500 mark Many organrzatrons rncludrng Rotary Krwants Optrmrsts Bustness and Profes sronal Women s Club Elks Moose and Macomb Woman s Club and many others are represented tn the crty One of the early rndustnes of Macomb was the Trnsley Flour Mrll where such ex cellent flour was made that tt sold qurte extensrvely, much of rt rn St Lours Flour was then sold rn barrels and the Trnsley M111 located on South Randolph Street had tts own cooper shop and made rts own barrels Other early rndustrres rncluded a brrck manufacturrng plant and a woolen mrll both of whrch are absent from the current scene lndustnal development ln Macomb may be characterrzed as sound and conserva trve A good proportlon of thrs development rs based upon the explortatron of rtch and practrcally rnexhaustrble natural resources whrch makes for permanency Srnce Macomb 18 known as one of the prtncrpal clay manufacturrng centers of the state rt rs to be expected that mdustrres ustng clay as thexrbaslc raw materral are 1n the majorrty However there are enough other rmportant manufactunng orgamzatrons that the crty s growth may be sard to be drstrnctxve because rt has attracted such a wrde varrety of rn dustnes Thrs dlversrty of lndustry grves labor a wrde chorce of employment lt rs srgnrfrcant that labor troubles are unknown rn Macomb and the out look for the future presents an unclouded horlzon of smooth, satlsfactory relatronshxps between labor and , . I I Q I 9 I ' 1 n ' - - - 1 a 0 . - I Q I - 1 u r n a g 1 ' 0 n a r n 1 ' . n n r n l ' - n I 9 v u n . . - Q Q I I I Q 1 Q Q , . 9 - . . . . . , I Q . . -

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l-ltgbee was addressrng a polrtrcal meetrng at the courthouse when the burldrng began to crack The crowd drspersed very qurckly and after that whenever a meetrng was assembled rt a slrght norse hrnted that the burldmg mlght fall rt was almost tmpos srble to retaxn any audrence Contracts for the present courthouse were let rn 1868 Together wrth rts furmshrngs t.he present structure cost around S5155 000 The plan for the crty ofMacomb was grven by James Campbell proneer storekeep er whose home was the second buxldrng erected rn Macomb The unusual arrangement of streets enterrng the courthouse square and the rest of the lay out of the crty were copred drrectly from the ground plan of Mr Campbell s home crty Frankfort Ky Just after the foundrng of the town came the great snow For three days and nrghts the snow fell pllrng up to fourteen feet on the level and rn drrfted places st11l deeper Some hrstorres tell of chrldren rn the late 60 s walkrng to school on top of the rce encrusted snow over the tops of fences Educatron 1n Macomb began rn 1834 when a one room one wrndow log school house was opened as a prrvate school Each puprl s tu1t10n cost hrs parents one dollar rn cash and three dollars rn merchandrse or produce In 1835 McDonough College was establrshed Thrs undertakrng proved a farlure as drd four successrve attempts by var rous groups All were short lrved Frnally 1n 1899 Western State College was es has prospered and grown now numberrng some 1500 students and sponsormg a Trarnrng School for grade school puprls rn connectron wrth the college teacher trarnrng program In place of the one room schoolhouse Macomb now has frve grade schools one parochral one Junror Hrgh School and a Senror Hlgh School rn addrtlon to the Tram mg School at the college lt rs drffrcult for people of thrs day accustomed to the present 23 mrles of paved streets rn Macomb the electrrc street lrghts and the cement srdewalks to realrze the prrmrtlve condrtrons whrch exrsted rn 1856 when Macomb was rncorporated as a crty Candles or 011 lamps were used lndoors whrle lanterns were carrred when people were out on the streets at nrght The frrst street lrghts were gas tended by men who went about early rn the evenrng to lrght them and agaln later to extrngursh them the streets berng dark from mrdnrght on untrl the present all nrght electrrc lights were rnstalled Before streets and roads were paved people were often forced to use mudboats lrke scows drawn by mules or oxen to come to town srnce no horse drawn vehrcles could get through the deep mud There were no srdewalks for some trme The flrst ones were made of planks lard srde by srde and fastened to strrngers Next came regular board walks some three feet wrde, followed by buck walks and frnally concrete walks tablished on a campus of approximately 70 acres on the edge of the city. The college

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therr employers Some 1250 persons are employed rn Macomb rndustnes at an annual payroll of about 735 000 Thts ftgure does not rnclude Western State College s annual payroll of 000 000 Besrdes the lucratrve clay deposrts McDonough County possesses a rrch potenttal supply of coal whrch at one trme was actrvely mrned but except for local mmes ts now neglected Petroleum depostts too are to be found underlyxng the area and at one txme a number of orl wells were tn productton Wealthy as McDonough County rs rn raw materral resources rts greatest asset ts un doubtedly rts rrch sorl The adaptabrlrty of the county to the rarsrng of good feed crops corn often averages 65 bu to the acre grves rrse to hog rarsmg cattle feedxng and the allred dauytng rndustrres Many spactous farms surroundtng Macomb are dotted wrth Aberdeen Angus cattle or Hampshtre or Poland Chrna ptgs Thrrvxng poultry farms, stock exchanges a large aucuon barn, a strong Farm Bureau and several companres engaged rn the manufacture of cheese rce cream and other daxry products are further evrdence of the Communrty s extensrve agncultural program A large Fau Grounds on the edge of the crty houses the annual County Farr wrth rts many ltvestock and other farm exhtbrts The frrst newspaper rn Macomb was the Enterprtse started rn 1855 on the second floor of a burldmg on the south srde of the square The Macomb Journal has had the longest contmuous publrcatton from 1865 to the present Other edtts of the commumty mclude the Western Courrer publrshed by Western durrng the college year and the McDonough County Trmes Radro Statron WKAI of 250 watts was establrshed rn Macomb on July 4 1947 Today products made rn Macomb and those grown tn thrs area ftnd thexr way all over the Untted States and rn some tnstances around the globe Macomb may well be proud of her strategtc rmportance to her state and to her natton she rs one of the spokes rn a mrghty wheel The tale of her growth and her expansion can be many trmes paral leled across these Umted States for such proneer fortttude enterprrse and downrrght hard work rs what has ratsed our natron to tts great herghts today Credrt rs due Mrss Ethel Mae Norton for her ard rn helprng comprle htstortcal data S21 l Q . ' I ' 58. . .