The following is the fifth of a multi-part article about the timeline of Chillicothe, IL. This article will illustrate the key dates along with the key individuals that helped to shape our city’s great history.

1915 – Administrator’s Subdivision of the Moffitt & Holman’s Addition – Patrick H. Kelly buys the undeveloped Block 49 of the Moffitt & Holman’s subdivision and plats out a seven-lot subdivision between Sixth Street and Seventh Street (now Finney Street) bordering the south side of Truitt Avenue.

1916 – The Chillicothe Township Library is constructed, and a dedication is held on September 4, 1916. The Chillicothe Women’s and University Club helped to secure $10,000 in funding through the Carnegie Corporation to help build the new facility. The new building was located at the corner of Second and Walnut and the land was donated by John Phillip (J.P.) Matthews, local business owner in Chillicothe.

1917 – George C. Gleason, prominent business owner and longtime druggist at Gleason’s Drugs since 1901, is elected Mayor for a two-year term. 

1917 - The Swain family repossesses a steamboat in New Orleans and completely renovates the sidewheeler and renames it the Julia Belle Swain, for Captain Percy Swain’s two-year-old daughter and granddaughter of Captain David Swain. The steamboat would become a fixture along the Illinois River for year to come. This would be the last steamboat owned by the Swain family.

1919 – Joseph Fisher, local businessperson and owner of Jos. Fisher Groceries and Meats is elected Mayor for a two-year term.

1920 – The 1920 Census reports that the population of Chillicothe is 1,986 and North Chillicothe is 1,002, totaling 2,988. This represents an increase of 226 since the 2010 Census. Chillicothe Township’s total population is 3,374 and is 168 more than 2010.

1920 – First National Bank purchases the H.R. Friedburg Building at corner of Second Street and Pine Street. After the building renovation is completed, the H.M. Cleveland Cigar Factory relocates into the upper-level corner and resumes operations.

1920 – Johnston McCulley, 1901 Chillicothe High School graduate, has his novel from 1919, The Curse of Capistrano, adapted into the silent film The Mark of Zorro. This is the first work to feature the character Diego Vega, the masked hero also known as Zorro. For more information on Zorro, please visit the Chillicothe Historical Society.

1921 – A special election is held in August, where the people of Chillicothe cast their votes to decide the future location of the Chillicothe Township High School. 405 of the 558 votes were cast for the Cutright site over the two other sites. Work is expected to start in the fall and completion is expected for the start of the 1922-23 school year.

1921 – R. F. Hunter, local businessperson and owner of Hunter Lumber is elected Mayor for a two-year term. 

1922 – Chillicothe Township’s New High School located on Truitt Avenue, officially opened its first day of school on September 8. 180 students roamed the halls and marveled at the state of the art three story facility. Equipped with twenty classrooms in all. The building has a modern furnace and ventilating system, along with electricity and is supplied with water from the city water plant. The cost of the building and equipment was approximately $135,000 and was designed by architect firm of Hotchkiss and Whitmeyer.

1922 – Fire destroys the Kelly Building and Deep Saad Confectionary building. On December 11th, fire broke out in the Kelly Building (now the site of the Town Theater) and spread into the Deep Saad building. It was the largest fire in the business district since the Halloween fire of 1890. The three-story Kelly building, once the site of the local Opera House, was the main show house of the town, was destroyed. 

1923 – Three years after women gained the right to vote, Ilion Wait declares her intent for candidacy and wins her first of many elections for the City Clerk Role of Chillicothe. Ilion Wait Crabel would go on to hold the office for Sixty-Six years. She is thought to hold the world’s title for longest consecutive years in office by Guinness Book of World Record officials.

1923 – The formal dedication ceremony takes place at the new High School location on West Truitt Avenue. Those in attendance were there to honor Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel S. Cutright, who donated the five-acre piece of land the property sits on. Mr. Cutright is introduced by George C. Gleason, President of the School Board, 

1923 – Luke Alexis (L.A.) Rider, Mayor, Local business owner of The Pure Food Bakery, runs on the Democratic Ticket and defeats Republican challenger Samuel G. Crew by a vote of 253 to 139. 

1923 – The R. & K. Ice and Fuel Company builds a new ice manufacturing plant on Santa Fe Avenue in North Chillicothe. The building was constructed by the French and Steiner contracting firm. The new plant will be able to produce twenty-two tons of ice daily. Mayor L.A. Rider and Ralph Keenan are the owners of the new company.

1923 – The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, Ohio opens in its first of four locations at 952 North Second Street. 

1924 – Led by C.B. Zinser, a group formed for the citizens of Chillicothe sign a contract on July 1, 1924, with W.H. Schott, Promoter for the Midwest Grain Products Company, based in Delaware, but is backed by New York capitalists. The company agrees to locate their million-dollar grain alcohol plant near Chillicothe. The group of citizens raise $5,000 dollars to buy a twenty-acre tract of land north of Chillicothe near the Santa Fe and Rock Island railway intersection. Hugh Moffitt owns the land. Construction is set to start by September 1, 1924. The site is expected to be fully functional by March 1, 1925. Once operational, it has been reported that the Dupont Chemical Company is looking for a plot of land nearby to locate their own plant, to use the by products from the Alcohol plant.