1935 – On June 27, Cutright Community Park was officially dedicated. The dedication came ten years after Nathaniel S. Cutright had donated the land to the City of Chillicothe. The Public Welfare Department of the Woman’s Club arranged the ceremony. Alice Wilsey, Chairman of the Woman’s Club presided over the ceremony and Lillian Carroll briefed the crowd on the history of the park. The former site of the Chillicothe Canning company had been cleaned up in 1930, by Mabel Stowell and her sixth-grade students. A committee of citizens had maintained the park for the last five years.

1935 – On July 12, the District 20 School board starts a discussion to entertain thoughts of constructing a new grade school to replace the two currently in use. A motion was conducted to hold a special election on whether to issue bonds to build the building. On September 14, the people of Chillicothe voted in favor of building the new school by a ratio of six votes to one. The new school will be located on the lot of the two current school buildings where Pearce Community Center currently resides. Construction will be on Dec 12.

1936 – On Feb 10, the new Santa Fe railroad clubhouse was opened for operation. It was built to replace the old building that faltered in 1934 resulting in two deaths. The old clubhouse was the former Midland Hotel that the Santa Fe railroad had purchased in 1906.

1936 – Frank Meyer, proprietor of the Shore Acres Tavern at Meyers Cottage in Rome, purchases the North Shore Country Club for $30,000. The purchase agreement includes the land made up of fifty-four acres, the golf course, the elaborate clubhouse, and the swimming pool. Meyer had envisioned the golf club being turned into a summer resort or trailer city. Meyer would eventually decide not to close the golf course, and the private club was then renamed the Shore Acres Country Club.

1936 – On Sept 18, the new Chillicothe Grade School was dedicated and opened for the students on the first day of school. L.L. Pearce, grade school superintendent, was chairperson of the dedication program. The architect was Robert J. Hotchkiss of Peoria, Illinois. The construction firm of Anderson Brothers of Abingdon, Illinois performed the general contractor duties. The total cost for the project was $98,000, which equates to $2.2 million dollars in 2023. 45 percent of the school project was partially financed by the Public Works Association.

1936 – Frank J. Rolan, owner of both the Palace and Sunset Theatres in Chillicothe announces he will re-open the Palace Theatre, which has been closed for years. Rolan will close the Sunset Theatre and opt for movies to be shown in the more modern and updated Palace Theatre.

1937 – E.L. Pennington wins re-election bid by defeating challenger Dr. J.W. Daugherty 620 votes to 523 in a close race. Pennington wins his first four-year term. Ilion B. Wait defeats Burnett Read for City Clerk 787 votes to 347. This marks her seventh re-election. Village President of North Chillicothe wins his re-election bid over challengers Fred Allington 268 votes to 139.

1937 – The House Committee on Appropriations in Washington, D.C., releases a list of towns that meet the criteria for a new post office. Chillicothe, Illinois makes the list. Experts estimate a new post office in the town will cost $70,000.

1938 – E. L. Smith, proprietor of the Ben Franklin variety store, agrees to buy the historic Matthews building. The transaction was one of the largest in recent years in the downtown business district. Edna Matthews Condit, granddaughter of P.T. Matthews, completed the sale with Smith. The building was home to the P.T. Matthews Store for over 50 years.

1938 – Led by Coach Ralph L. Cusac, the Chillicothe Boy’s Lightweight track team brought home the first State Championship in the school’s history. Melvin Martin and Merton Gaisford were the 1 – 2 punch for Chillicothe. Gaisford won the discus and broke the state record, while Martin finished second. Martin won the Shotput and Gaisford finished Second.

1938 – Bids are sent in by the City of Chillicothe for consideration for a new Post Office location. The city submits ten locations that the government will consider for placement of the new government building. Of the ten locations submitted, one site that is named is the City Park location bound by Second, Third, Chestnut, and Cedar Streets.

1938 – The City of Chillicothe is notified by the U.S. Government that their bid for a new Post Office has been accepted. The project will move forward, and the site of the new building will be determined later, despite numerous objections by the owner of the current Post Office location of Alderperson and business owner Frank E. Bacon.

1939 - F.J. Rolan sells Chillicothe Theatres to Springfield Firm. George & Nick Kerasotes bought all theatre equipment in both buildings and the Sunset building still belongs to Bert Potter of Edelstein. Rolan retains the Palace building. Kerasotes will pick up the Rolan lease at the Sunset Theatre.

1939 – On January 14, the Camp-Meixner lots were selected for the site of the new federal Post Office Building in Chillicothe. Three lots in total owned by Earl Camp and Katharine Meixner will be used when the new building is constructed. The site includes the ground where the old Camp livery barn, the house occupied by Hiram Camp, and Meixner’s Blacksmith shop are currently located. The Camp-Meixner site was not the first choice of the government. The government favored two other sites over what was chosen. The City Park was the first choice, but all parties agreed that there would be too many legal entanglements to overcome. The second site was the location of Webb’s Inn at the SW corner of Second and Walnut. That site was not accepted due to the complications of moving the structure prior to constructing the Post Office.

You can read parts 1-7 through the links below.