Westville High School - Janus Yearbook (Westville, IL)

Page 11 text:

THE CITY AS IT IS TODAY Tlit Grape Creek of today has dwindled to a small village of less than 500 population. The children attend the valley school before entering Westville High School. THE STREAM The little stream still winds its way. with the wild grape vines still clinging along its banks.

Page 10 text:

The Early History of Grape Creek The village of Grape Creek was incorporated in 1890. It got its name from the little winding stream along whose hanks wild grapes were trellised in abundance. In the early days there were but three industries which made the town famous. One was the coal mines in this region, another was the old brick plant, and the third was Kyger’s Mill. The mines in the district yielded great returns in the 60’s and 70's before the six-foot vein of coal in this immediate vicinity was mined. The Grape Creek Coal and Coke Company exploited the great coal deposits, demanding men, and hence (■rape Creek became a boom town. Houses were constructed; first Redtown sprang up and just around the shoulder of the hill second Redtown began to develop. Soon the town had 2,(K)0 population. i he old brick plant was the first of its kind in Vermilion County to turn out a good grade of paving brick and because of this fact it became a famous enterprise. Kyger’s Mill was built in 1858. It was a two-story frame structure and stood about three-quarters of a mile from Grape Creek on the banks of the Vermilion River. People came here from miles around and the mill was known for the quality of the product it turned out. The building at the lower left is the remains of an old tavern: a remnant of the deep mine era. One hundred yards east of it was the old Blue I.ird Mine. Kelly Xo. 5 was just back of it. and Kelly No. 1 was a short distance south. It was the meeting place of the miners at the turn of the century. THE OIJ) TAVERN

Page 12 text:

The Ghost City I lit rise and tall of the fast-growing mining town of Himrod occurred within a j eriixl of about IS years. Himrod was located about two miles east and half a mile south of estville, and all that remains to recall this former town of several hundred inhabitants is the old illage Hall, now little more than a pile of bricks. 1 he root is gone and the windows long ago removed. In the front part of this hall the Village Council met. under the leadership of Mayor Anton 1. Chromis, and in the rear was the village jail. The town of Himrod started with the sinking of the Himrod Mine in 1895 bv the Himrod Coal Company. . W. Keefer was general superintendent and manage! ot the mine. A village sprang up within a few years, the company building some 40 or 50 houses for the convenience of their miners, many of whom had but a short time before come from Europe. There were several grocery stores, saloons and other business houses, and more than 500 miners were employed there at one time. It was one of the best equipped mines in the county. Himrod was incorporated in 1897. When it was a flourishing town it staged one of the largest Fourth of July celebrations ever staged in that section. Judge ‘S- ,UIT?y C,a.rk then one of leading attorneys of the county, made the prin-cjpa! address from a large platform erected in a grove just west of the village. I he village at this time had a population of nearly a thousand people. In 1 H)8 the water broke into the mine and today only the old town hall stands as a remains of the former flourishing village.