The following is the tenth 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.

1946 – Organization of a Chamber of Commerce for Chillicothe was voted on and passed at a meeting on Feb 15th of over one hundred local farmers and business professionals. The adoption of a constitution and by-laws, along with the election of the board of directors were conducted on March 1st. The elected directors were: B.M. Mead, R. F. Hunter, John Lee, Phil McAlearney, P.H. Murphy, Roger Mannering, Kenneth C. Koch, E.A. Lawson, S.R. Lawson, S.R. Northrup, R.S. Learnard, Jake Irions, Dick Shephard, Dr. Frank C. Green, and C.C. Hicks. The appointment of officers was held at the Board of Directors meeting on March 12th. B.M. Mead was named President, R.S. Learnard was named to serve as Vice-President, and R.F. Hunter was named to serve as Treasurer. The formal charter date for the organization is March 29, 1946. 

1946 – Jake Irions, president of the Chillicothe Gravel Company. plats out the Irions Subdivision. This seventeen-lot subdivision spans two city blocks west of Fourth Street and east of Maginnis Street (now Sixth Street) and north of Truitt Avenue and south of McDowell Street. This marks the first new subdivision in twenty-three years.

1946 – Glen Phillip “G.P.”  Scott plats out the GP Scott Subdivision on April 30, 1946. The one-block, twelve-lot subdivision is located on the west side of Fifth Street and the east side of Sixth Street between Francis Street and Maple Street. Mr. Scott is the current publisher of the Chillicothe Bulletin.

1946 – The Pearce Lightweight Track team pulled off a repeat of last year’s State Championship. The win was their third in the last four years and their fifth overall. Pearce finished with twenty-two and one-quarter points and beat Amboy by one-quarter of a point. Chillicothe points were scored on first-place finishes in the Shot Put and the Discus, along with a second-place finish in the low hurdles by Don Rankin. Jon Babington took first place in the Triple Jump. Russel Sisk took fifth place in the 50-yard dash and fourth place in the 220-yard dash. Dick Irions finished in fifth place in the Pole Vault. The 440-yard relay team of Reese, Sisk, Babington, and Sledgister sealed the win for Chillicothe with a second-place finish.

1946 – Dean Claycomb, local businessperson, buys Lot Thirteen of the L.A. Woods Subdivision north of Oak Street to the east of Second Street and plats out Claycomb Court Subdivision. This twenty-five-lot subdivision is made up of two streets, Court Street and West Court Street.

1946 – Leo W “Pete” Henniger plat our Henninger’s Subdivision – The nineteen-lot subdivision located north of Truitt Avenue and east of Fourth Street has one street named Hilda Court. This street is named in honor of his wife Hilda Henninger.

1946 – The Chillicothe Township voters approved the creation of a park district in Chillicothe by a two-to-one ratio. The vote took place on Tuesday, November 5 with 446 votes in favor to 198 against. 

1946 – Shore Acres golf course becomes Shore Acres Subdivision. William B. Stone, the proprietor of Shore Acres Country Club, makes the decision to close the golf course and sells off thirty acres to the south of the clubhouse to plat out the land into a 102 lot subdivision. Streets in the subdivision will be named: Sunset Terrace, Glendale Avenue, Sheridan Avenue, Beach Drive, Oaklawn Avenue, and River Lane.

1946 – James and Anne Caldwell plat out their three-block, twenty-one lot subdivision known as Caldwell’s Addition. The subdivision will be at the north end of town, one-quarter of a mile north of Truitt Ave and to the east of Fourth Street (Route 29), and south of Wood Street (Now Wilmot Street). Street names within the subdivision include Caldwell Street (now McDowell Street), and Third Street.

1947 – A special election is held on January 3rd to determine the officials for the newly created Chillicothe Pleasure Driveway and Park District. John M. Daugherty was elected President over challenger Winfield Scott by a vote of 164 to 129. Daugherty will serve a two-year term. The Board of Trustees elected to four-year terms were Harold Root, Ralph Cusac, Phil McAlearney, Melanie Ferguson, and G.A. Arnold. 

1947 – The Western Yeast Company announces construction plans for their new building. The plant will be located between Third Street and Fourth Street adjacent to the Rock Island Railroad on land purchased from the Owan McGrath estate. This will be the fourth plant for the Los Angeles, California-based company. 

1947 – Ilion Wait Crabel was presented with a corsage and a congratulatory card, commemorating the start of her twenty-fifth year as City Clerk.

1947 – The Pearce Grade School Heavyweight track team is the newly crowned State Champs. They finished with twenty and one-half team points to narrowly defeat runner-up Sullivan’s fifteen. Chillicothe was led by the trio of Earl Worrick, Tom Calvin, and Fred Razo. Calvin took first in the Pole Vault and third in the Discus. Worrick took first in the Shot Put and third in the low hurdles. Razo finished second in the Triple Jump and fourth in the 100-yard dash. Ernie Reece, Fred Razo, Earl Worrick, and Bennie Razo completed the scoring with a fifth-place finish in the 440-yard relay.

1948 – William B. Stone, owner of Shore Acres Country Club, agrees to a lease to own agreement with the newly created Chillicothe Pleasure Driveway and Park District (now Chillicothe Park District). The lease covers twenty plus acres, clubhouse, swimming pool, all equipment. The lease is valued at $100,000, the equivalent of $1.26 million in today’s economy.

1948 – Ross J. Placher sells his property to Clarence Hitchcock and Willard J. Wilson of the Rome Contracting company. They are the recent developers of Vet’s Place in Rome. The eight-and-one-half-acre building site will be known as Wilson’s Addition. The building site will contain forty-one subdivided lots that are bound to the south by Wilmot Street, and to the west by Martin Street (now Fifth Street). Two new streets are included in the project. They are Gail Avenue and Placher Court.

You can read parts 1-9 through the links below.