Chillicothe is located on the old Indian "Trail of the Illinois" from the village at Peoria to Old Utica, and on to Chicago. The Indians thought this was a good site for a town, with a creek for water, and the river narrow enough to be easy to cross.

Senachwine, who died about 1830, was the last chief of the Potawatomie village that had been Gomo's, north of Senachwine Creek, and west of Illinois Route 29. There were also Indian camps on what became the Silliman farm in northern Medina Township, and at Smith's springs between Chillicothe and Rome.

Chillicothe was not the first settlement in the area, and in fact, the present Chillicothe is the result of the merging of three settlements, Allentown, North Chillicothe, and Chillicothe.

The first settlers in the township were Mahlon Lupton in the fall of 1829 and John Hammett on June 10, 1830. They settled north of Senachwine Creek, in section 9. Jefferson Hickson, a blacksmith who built a shop on the riverbank, built the first cabin in the town proper. Edwin Jones built the second cabin, with two rooms, right after the town was platted. One room was stocked with goods to become the first store in the town.

As is often the case, the old history books do not agree on the names of the first settlers. This is probably do to the difficulty of reading some of the handwriting in the original records. The first settler is recorded as having been Mahlon Lupton, and also Supton. The first resident is recorded as having been Jefferson Hickson and also Rickson.

In 1833 a wagon road was laid out from Peoria, through the sites of Rome, Chillicothe, Henry and Ottawa to Chicago. In 1837 it would be made a State Road.

Samuel McKean (who was elected a county commissioner on August 1, 1836) platted a village on November 28, 1834, of which it is said that the name was not recorded, of four blocks and four extra lots on the southwest quarter of section 21 and the northwest quarter of section 28. The four original blocks are now; block 1, on which the Dunlap House Tavern (Old American House), the first tavern which served as a stage stop and opened in 1835 was located, block 2 is Cutright Park, block 3 is the block with the Library, and block 4 is the block with City Hall. The Dunlap House sat on the West Side of the block where "The Levee" was, or "Bananas" is now located. It is said that McKean's village did not succeed.

Then on June 6, 1836, it is said that Harrison Jamison and Joseph Hart platted a larger village, which "they" named Chillicothe, on the southwest quarter of section 21 and the southeast quarter of section 20, supposedly totally ignoring the earlier plat, but including the four blocks. This village of 38 blocks of 10 lots each, ran from Water or Front Street along Lake Peoria westward for six blocks to Sixth Street. From Elm Street on the south it ran northward seven blocks to Oak Street to the east of Third Street, and only six blocks, to Willow Street west of Third Street. What is now City Park was an unnumbered block, to serve as a city square, and not for sale.

It is interesting that the new survey supposedly ignored the earlier plat, but McKean's original village made up blocks 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the new village, and their numbering is out of sequence with the rest of the plat. The lots on these four blocks are 66 by 165 feet. The lots of Jamison and Hart are also 66 by 165 feet, except for those that front on Front Street, which are only 66 by 132 feet. If they ignored the earlier plat, why didn't they line up all the lot lines, instead of having the two blocks extending 33 feet closer to the river's edge? Also, the 1896 map shows Jamison and Hart's plat as an addition to the original village of Chillicothe.

October 21, 1836, James Temple and Jamison added six more blocks south of Elm, in the northwest quarter of section 28, to the village. These lots are also 66 by 165 feet, except for those that front on Water Street, which are only 66 by 132 feet, and line up with Jamison and Hart's street plan rather than McKean's.

An article in the "Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazetteer" of January 20, 1838 states that Chillicothe was 21 miles from Peoria, by stage, and had 30 houses. At this time Chillicothe mail would have been coming to the post office in Rome, three miles to the south. A post office was established in Chillicothe February 13, 1841.

Businesses grew along Front Street, so goods could be hand carried from the boats to the shops. L.H. Thomas built the first mercantile shop on Second Street. Thomas's shop was a drug store, and later served as the post office. It is reported that Thomas was the person who introduced the first coal oil lamps to the area. It is also reported that Mrs. Thomas was the owner of the first sewing machine in the area, and took delight in demonstrating the Wilcox and Gibbs machine to visitors.

Chillicothe had some natural advantages that the earlier settlements in the area were lacking. Union and Northampton were not on the river. The slightly older Rome did not have a good river crossing or waterpower from a nearby creek.

Although Northampton claims that William Moffatt built a mill in 1834, William and Jeremiah Moffatt secured a writ from the County Commissioners Court for the construction of a milldam in the northwest quarter of section 18 on March 7, 1836. At the same session, Ashbel Merrill obtained a similar writ for the construction of a milldam in the northwest quarter of section 17. The Moffatt mill was a grist (flour) mill, and had no competition closer than Rochester, on the Spoon River. The Merrill mill, a half-mile downstream from the Moffatt mill, was a sawmill.

Chillicothe was an important river shipping point for farm products, which was helped by having a ferry to bring produce from Marshall and Woodford counties. In 1847 the first grain warehouse was built on the riverbank by John A. Moffitt. Henry Truitt in company with Samuel Jack built the second in 1853.

The cutting and storing of ice during the winter, for shipment south by boat in the spring, was a big business for men like Joe Carroll. When winter came, horse drawn cutters were pulled across the ice to saw it into large chunks. The chunks were then hauled to a chute, where chains lifted them into the icehouse, where they were packed in sawdust insulation.

Clam fishing was an important industry for a while. The shells were used to make buttons. Also, there was always the chance that a pearl might be found in the shell. It is reported that John Lane of Chillicothe once found one that was worth $1500.00, and had it been more regular in shape it would have been worth even more.

Hunting was another important industry in the area. There were no hunting seasons, and birds were abundant. Market hunters shot hundreds of ducks and shore birds every day, and shipped them to restaurants in Chicago and elsewhere.

Fishing was another important industry in the area. One weekend in November of 1935 saw 300,000 pounds of carp, buffalo and catfish taken from Lake Senachwine in less than 24 hours by the Thomson Fisheries Company.

Chillicothe was incorporated as a village February 22, 1861 and as a city February 11, 1873, with a population of 1000.

In 1837 seven area residents, under the guidance of Elder Gershom Silliman organized the First Baptist Church. With appointment of a pastor, services were held until the pastor, the Rev. Alexander Ridler, died in 1840. Services were then held irregularly until the Rev. C.D. Merritt revived the Chillicothe group in 1850.

In 1838 the Rev. Bristol preached the first Congregational service in the bar room of the old Buckeye House. That same year a vacant log cabin became the first schoolhouse. This cabin would be replaced with a wooden framed building on the City Square.

In 1842 P.T. Matthews and John Batchelder opened a store in the downtown area. A few years later Matthews bought an interest in a store with John Moffitt. In 1858 Matthews established the P.T. Matthews store, which for years was Chillicothe's largest store. The store had men's side and a lady's side, and was one of the most modern stores of the day, with a wide selection of clothing and dry goods.

In 1850 Father Hurley brought the first Catholic services to the area, with mass being offered in private homes for several years.

1852 saw the organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Preaching was held in the schoolhouse on the public square. The preacher traveled a circuit that included Rome, Mossville, Northampton, Southampton, Blue Ridge, Lawn Ridge, and La Prairie as well as Chillicothe.

In 1853 a group of investors in the Peoria area, under the leadership of Isaac Underhill, began to plan for a rail line to connect Peoria to Chicago, via the now building Chicago and Rock Island. On February 12, 1853, the Illinois General Assembly granted a charter to the Peoria and Bureau Valley Rail Road to construct a line from Peoria to the Bureau Valley. A construction contract was executed in May 1853 with the Sheffield and Farnam firm to construct the Peoria and Bureau Valley line while the construction firm was completing the Chicago and Rock Island.

Land for right of way was bought from the owners, and it appears that some of it brought a good price for the time. The city of Chillicothe leased part of Third Street to the railroad for right of way through town. The first Chillicothe depot was built on the present site on Third Street in the summer of 1854. It was similar to stations at Mossville, Rome, Sparland, Henry, and Bureau Junction, mainly serving to keep the stationmaster out of the weather.

The Peoria and Bureau Valley railroad began service from Chillicothe to the north in October, 1854, and soon built an elevator by the depot.

"The Sun", a weekly, published by a man named Hopkins, in 1854 became the first newspaper to be published in Chillicothe. The paper folded in 1855, since the town of 1000 was not large enough to support it. There would be several attempts to publish a paper before the "Chillicothe Bulletin" would succeed in 1883.

Illinois' new free school law of 1855 made money available for a new school building. A 30 by 56 foot, four rooms, two story brick building was built at the corner of Fourth and Elm. The primary grades met on the ground floor, and the high school used the second floor. This four-room building had to have an addition added before the building was lost in a fire.

On March 4, 1867, a state charter was granted to the Chillicothe Ferry Road and Bridge Company to establish and run a ferry, to build a bridge, to make roads approaching the same on both sides of the river, and to purchase or condemn lands for that purpose. The right was exclusive for three miles along the river. A ferry was established across the "west" river, and a bridge was built across the "east" river to connect with a road constructed on the east side of the river to bring Woodford and Marshall County trade to Chillicothe.

Henry Truitt and Samuel Jack organized what would become the Truitt Matthews Bank in 1868. Later P.T. Matthews, Harvey Holman, and A.D. Sawyer took an active part in the bank.

Chillicothe, with a population of 1000, was incorporated as a city in 1873. Major concerns of Mayor Henry Hosmer were cleaning up the merchandise unloaded from the steamboats on the riverfront, keeping the ferry operating as late in the fall as possible, and hogs running loose in the downtown area.

Chillicothe had two dry goods stores, seven groceries, three hardware and three drug stores, one clothing and two millinery shops, three variety stores and one bank. There were two grain elevators, two wagon shops, five blacksmiths, one hotel, two restaurants, two livery stables, one bakery, one cannery, two meat markets, two harness shops, a lumber yard, two barbers, two furniture stores, three saloons, one billiard hall, one poultry buyer, one newspaper and three shoemakers. There was one dentist, three doctors, and one lawyer.

By 1880 the population was 1200, with a bank, two dry goods stores, seven groceries, two drug stores, a farm machinery dealer, two hardware stores, two furniture stores, two elevators, a lumber yard, a flour mill, a saw and planing mill, two jewelry stores, a millinery store, a bakery, a real estate office, two barbers, and other shops.

Nathaniel Cutright built a cannery in 1883 where Cutright Park is today. It is reported that 250,000 cans of local produce were processed and sold the first season. The building was torn down and the equipment moved to Princeville in 1922.

Frank Bailey started publication in 1883 of The "Chillicothe Bulletin" as a monthly. Under competition by another paper, "The Reporter", the "Bulletin" became a bi-monthly and then a weekly. For a time Bailey tried to publish "The Bulletin" as a daily, but news was too scarce, so the paper returned to a weekly.

In 1887 then Mayor W.H. Barbour granted a license to Mead, Russell, Hoyt, and Truitt to establish a street railway between the new Santa Fe Depot and points south. It was also decided to let the gas streetlights burn until midnight so people arriving on the 11:50 Santa Fe could reach their homes safely. Apparently nothing was done with the street railroad until 1889, when James Kinlooch and William Ryan purchased the cars, and the fifteen mules that pulled them, of the Peoria streetcar lines that switched over to electricity. The Peoples Street Rail Road was started when track was laid from the Santa Fe Depot to Cedar Street, then down Cedar to turn south on Second Street, and in later years was extended south of town to Columbia Park (Shore Acres).

Mr. Carroll and Mr. Beebe opened the Chillicothe Business College in the Odd Fellows Hall in 1889.

In 1890 the city was debating putting in a water main system with fireplugs. In August, the projected cost of five miles of water main was $30,000.00. People balked at the cost, since outlying areas of the town would not receive service or protection.

The business district was wiped out by fire Halloween night of 1890. The fire started in Bob Hallock's livery stable, on the south side of Pine, east of Second Street. Bill King, who ran a saloon on the corner of Second and Pine discovered the fire as he was closing for the night at 11:00 PM. Buildings on both sides of Second Street were lost. The fire spread south on the East Side of the 900 block of Second until it reached a double firewall on the north side of a two-story building better than half way down the block. Photographs in the July 3, 1958 "Chillicothe Bulletin" show this building as having a plain front with three rectangular windows on the second floor, and being next door to a taller building with a large cornice and three arched windows on the second floor.

The fire jumped Pine Street, and burned eastward on Pine and northward on Second to Cedar Street. The West Side of Second Street burned from the firewall on the north side of the P.T. Matthews Store (the old Ben Franklin) northward to the City Park at Chestnut Street.

After the fire the city voted to install four miles of water mains and 40 fireplugs. The merchants had to pay for both the mains and rebuilding their stores, most of which were not covered by insurance. The city also passed a building code that required the exteriors of all buildings in the business district to be made from or covered with fireproof materials. It is reported that the stores were rebuilt mainly with Northampton brick.

The telephone and electricity came to Chillicothe in 1891. The People's Telephone Company brought service with 150 phones. The Chillicothe Water and Light plant stood on the site of the Fennel Metal plant. The brick powerhouse building was 42 feet by 70 feet and 30 feet high. Eight miles of wire provided the town with the luxury of electricity. Electricity was available from 4:00 PM until midnight at a cost of 75 cents per light bulb per month.

The February 3, 1891 issue of the "Bulletin" reported that a fire completely destroyed the school building at Fourth and Elm. Classes were scattered around town for the rest of the year. A new 13-room school building that could house 500 students in the 12 grades was erected on Sixth between Cedar and Chestnut. There was a special section for students suffering from tuberculosis, where the windows were kept open the year round for fresh air, and students and teachers wore coats and mittens in the winter.

The "old Wood's" property south of town came up for sale. Mayor James Kinlooch wanted to buy the property for a city park, but the majority of citizens did not think the expense was necessary. The property was privately owned, and became known as Columbia Park. It became popular for picnics, family reunions, and ball games. A dance pavilion was built, Sunday band concerts became popular, and steamboats brought excursions from Henry, Lacon, Peoria and Pekin.

An 1896 map shows that there was a store on the southwest corner of Third and Cedar, and a hotel just to the south of the store. The Rock Island depot was on the northeast corner of the intersection, and to the east of the depot was the grain office. There was the hotel on the northwest corner of Second and Cedar. There was a livery stable on the southwest corner of First and Chestnut. There were churches on the southwest and northeast corners of Second and Elm, one on the northwest corner of Third and Walnut, and one on the southeast corner of Fourth and Pine. There was a mill (I have been told by Eva Dodge Mounce of the Foundation of Historical Research of Illinois Potteries that this was a pottery run by Joseph Bradley, not yet completed in 1893, and closed by 1899) at Front and Pine, and the ferry also operated from Front and Pine. There was a sawmill on the northwest corner of Water and Birch. The pop factory was just north of Elm, on the East Side of First. J. Carroll had an icehouse at the foot of Cedar, and another at the foot of Chestnut, and the Chillicothe Water Electric Light and Power Plant was between the two icehouses. The Second Street Car Line ran south from the Santa Fe depot, south on Santa Fe to Cedar, where it turned east, then passing the Rock Island depot and city park, then south on Second to the edge of town.

The population in 1900 was 1699. The digging of sand and gravel were to become the main industries, with five pits in operation at one time.

A warning was issued in 1910 that Illinois River water was no longer fit to drink due to Chicago sewage.

The Aircraft Club of Peoria was organized in 1911, with Eugene Brown as the first president, and George Fitch, editor of the Peoria Herald-Transcript and Peoria banker Frederick F. Blossom in the club. J.B. Slinn of Chillicothe was hired to design and build the first plane. William Turnbull built the engine. Brown and Dr. Franklin Baldwin aided in construction. Named the "Falcon", this plane cost $1200.00 to build. The test flights, which began in the spring of 1911, were all made in the meadow at Columbia Park south of Chillicothe. Baldwin was the test pilot. In 1911, the plane never gained enough altitude to clear the fence that surrounded the field. After alterations during the winter to lesson the weight, the first flight in the spring of 1912 saw the plane lift off, and head for the hanger. The results were a wreck and a severely injured Dr. Baldwin.

Columbia Park became The Peoria Auto Club in 1913. A clubhouse was built, and it became a popular Sunday stopping place for the money crowd from Peoria in their new cars. In the early 1920's, the Peoria Auto Club became the North Shore Country Club, with the addition of a nine-hole golf course. The late 1930's saw Frank Meyers buying the North Shore Country Club, and renaming it Shore Acres. A bond issue for the city to buy Shore Acres Park was defeated 1172 to 109 in 1948. This action by the people of Chillicothe saw the nine-hole golf course sold off to become a sub- division of tract homes. In 1953 the people again said no to buying Shore Acres Park. The Park Board then decided to lease the grounds before all the property became a sub-division. Citizens turned out to clean up the park, and on July 4th, over 10,000 people arrived for the fireworks display.

Modernization came to the fire department. In 1915 the department's equipment had consisted of two hose reels mounted on 6-foot wheels. Each reel held 400 feet of 2½-inch hose. There were no ladders in the department. Fires were reported by running to the water works to blow the steam whistle or to city hall to ring the big bell. In 1916 the fire department got its first motorized fire truck, a ½ ton Ford. The truck carried an ax, a 24-foot extension ladder, ten 2½-gallon soda acid extinguishers, and a hose bed capable of carrying 500 feet of hose.

Prohibition became the law in 1919, and many stills were built in the area. It is reported that one still just north of town could turn out 500 gallons of moonshine a day. It is also reported that at one time 50 residents of the area had to go before the grand jury. Some of them were officials that were accused of taking hush money, and 6 men were indicted.

The Chillicothe Community Association was formed in 1920, and was determined to improve the town. The first goal was a municipal band. Next was a new post office, and the idea of replacing the old river ferry with a bridge. The projected cost of a steel bridge, and the road to it, was $450,000. The city did not have the money.

The Great Depression saw 58 children being fed one meal a day at local schools in 1933. 102 families were receiving Red Cross aid. 58 families were receiving county aid for coal and groceries. 10 young men joined the CCC and were sent to Oregon.

As part of the New Deal Program, the cities of Henry and Lacon got new bridges over the river and Chillicothe revived the effort to get a bridge here. It has been reported that one of the reasons that the government would not spend the money to build a bridge here was because the city had closed down the city operated ferry service several years before. The store owners had said that there was not enough business from the east side of the river to justify the $1000.00 or so needed from the city each year to keep the ferry running.

Richard Coster, stationed at Pearl Harbor, was killed in the surprise attack on December 7, 1941. By the end of the war, 22 area men would die for their country.

Contributing to the early growth of Chillicothe was a near neighbor, Allentown. In 1832 a state ferry license was granted to George Allen, to operate in the southeast quarter of section 29, but no plat exists of the village. This puts it in the Shore Acres area, since the ferry would need to clear the south end of the island. An article in the "Peoria Register and Northwestern Gazetteer" of January 20, 1838 states that Allentown was 19 miles from Peoria, by stage, and had 3 houses.

No story of Chillicothe can be told with including its sister, North Chillicothe. The story is told that in 1873, when the Santa Fe decided to build eastward into Chicago, the Rock Island did all it could to block the construction. When the survey party came through in 1885, the Peoria area, and also Chillicothe, wanted nothing to do with the new line. People refused to sell their land, no matter what the offer (I find this hard to believe). Then the party found an area one-mile north of Chillicothe, and so the Santa Fe built through north of Chillicothe. The Rock Island would not allow the Santa Fe to cross their track, so the Santa Fe bridged over the Rock Island right of way, and so there was no interchange between the lines. The only problem with this story is that the 1896 map shows an interchange. I think that the height of the river bluff, and the location of a natural pass down the bluff, had more to do with the location of the rail line than people not wanting to sell land did.

The line was open by 1888, with service from Chicago to Kansas City. The original bridge over the river was a drawbridge that had to be raised for river traffic. This was later replaced with a higher bridge to avoid having to use a lift section.

The Santa Fe opened the gravel pits north of town, and by 1896 had a spur line built down into the pits.

The Santa Fe located it's state headquarters here in 1901, and made it a division point, with crews being changed here after the run from Chicago or Fort Madison, and built a round house and switching yards. There were 8 through passenger trains each way each day, plus freights and local trains.

The growing rail center was incorporated as the village of North Chillicothe in May 1890. The 1900 population was 417. A post office was established December 22, 1892, but was discontinued November 30, 1917.

The 1896 map shows the Santa Fe Addition as having 24 blocks, of 34 lots, of which blocks 1 through 10, 13, 14, and 17 are not platted. The lots are shown as being 25 by 142 feet. The streets are 66 feet wide, except for Santa Fe, which is 100 feet wide. Finney is the eastern border, between Wilmot and the tracks, with Logan, Santa Fe, and Benedict laying to the west. McDowell Street is the southern border of the original plat, with Moffitt, Wilmot and Matthews lying to the north. There is also the Santa Fe Second Addition of blocks 25 through 34, lying between Benedict and Hoyt. Howe Street was the southern border of this addition, then McDowell, Moffitt, etc.

North of the pits, near the creek, in the northwest quarter of section 17 was the Waterhouse Paper Stock Company, with it's own spur line. An 1896 map of the county shows the four block "Waterhouse Addition to North Chillicothe" located south of the mill in the east half of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 17. This mill is reported to have turned out 8 to 12 tons of brown butcher and grocer paper from straw every day, until it was destroyed by fire.

The 1896 map shows that the depot was east of Santa Fe, close to the tracks, and the Division Office was east of the depot. What we know as the depot was originally build as a recreation center for trainmen, and made into a depot after a fire destroyed the original. At the north end of Santa Fe, there was a hotel on both sides of the street. There was a church on the southwest corner of Moffitt and Santa Fe. The post office was on the southwest corner of Matthews and Santa Fe. The jail was across the street, on the southeast corner of Matthews and Santa Fe. There was a land office on the northwest corner of Wilmot and Santa Fe. There was a lumber office on the West Side of the north end of Benedict, north of the alley, and another hotel south of the alley. The Santa Fe stockyards were south of the tracks, east of Fourth.

Submitted by Lowell Bennett