USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 35
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In the fall of 1874 the city bought the lot on which Engine House No. 2 stands and erected the building shortly afterward. At a meeting of the council April 29, 1875, it was de- cided to purchase a chemical engine with hose and hook and ladder attachments, and a con- tract was made with the Champion Fire Ex- tinguisher Co., of Louisville, Kentucky, for a machine of their make. The engine came in June and is yet one of the most efficient parts of the fire apparatus of Monmouth. Its cylin- ders have a capacity of 160 gallons, possessing
an extinguishing power equal to 6,400 gallons of common water. It weighs 3,000 pounds and cost the city $2,500. It is now housed in En- gine House No. 1, its old home having been abandoned in 1900.
May 5, 1875, a new fire company was organ- ized to man the chemical engine. It was chris- tened the Major Holt Engine Co. 2, and the first officers were: John M. Campbell, fore- man; Geo. W. McAdams, first assistant; Charles Allen, second assistant; Jonathan Mackey, stew- ard; Isaac Marks, secretary; J. W. Sipner, treas- urer. The other charter members were J. A. Corry, Jerry Leeper, G. W. Sperry, H. C. Miller, Jonathan Mackey, Charles W. Gilbert, Fred Rosenzweig, R. L. Russell, Ed Reed, L. S. Holden, W. W. Brooks, Armstrong Crandall, Ross Rush, Wm. Nye, Milt Robinson, Denzel Williams, T. H. Numbers, W. H. Sexton, T. B. Edwards, Jacob Nayler, Geo. W. Samson, J. H. Shipping, T. H. Johnson, Arthur Frymire.
Later a hose company was organized at En- gine House No. 2, with twenty-seven members, and F. Mathers, foreman; L. D. Earp, first assistant; C. Coultrap, second assistant; F. Weidenbauer, secretary; G. Starr Cutler, treas- urer; and J. Smiley, steward. It was disbanded when the apparatus was moved to Engine House No. 1.
The Alert Hook and Ladder Company was organized early in 1879. It had its quarters at Engine House No. 2, and was officered as follows: Fred Rosenzweig, foreman; Ed Reed, assistant; James Scott, second assistant; H. W. Johnson, secretary; H. C. Robinson, treasurer. This organization has been out of business for ten or fifteen years.
Hose Co. No. 1, originally a part of Engine Co. No. 1, was reorganized as an independent company December 11, 1901, with twenty mem- bers. They were: W. S. Findley, G. E. Bunker, Wilson Sloan, John Gayer, G. D. Dunbar, May- nard Hawkins, L. J. Berner, John Donaldson, John Robertson, F. S. Weir, D. Q. Webster, George Shaw, Marshall Sloats, E. E. Johnson, W. A. Speigel, C. W. Allen, Fred Barnes, Fred Lusk and Gallard Holliday. The officers are: Wilson Sloan, foreman; C. W. Allen, assistant foreman; G. E. Bunker, secretary and treasurer. The hose wagon which this company mans was purchased by the Fire Department and pre- sented to the city in the fall of 1894. The department also provided a horse for the wagon, but it was afterward sold and a team purchased.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Hose Co. No. 3 was organized at a meeting at the Fourth Ward hose house January 19, 1895, by Chief O. D. Wilcox, acting on instructions from the city council. Thirteen names were on the roll of charter members. The officers chosen were: J. P. Moore, foreman; D. H. Wil- liams, first assistant; John Flaherty, second assistant; D. D. Dunkle, secretary. The present officers of the company are: J. P. Moore, fore- man; Charles Lee, first assistant; James Lee, second assistant; E. E. Toal, secretary; Charles Nye, treasurer; S. B. Reed, steward. The hose house occupied by this company was built in the fall of 1894, and it has in its cupola the fire bell formerly on the City Hall. One hose cart comprises the equipment of the company.
The "William Hanna" steam fire engine was purchased by the city in December, 1881, at a cost of $2,500. It is a Silsby-the same make as its predecessor, but a much better machine. It was given its name in honor of Monmouth's late esteemed citizen, William Hanna, who was at that time mayor of the city. The engine is now kept at the city scale house, and it is only used on extraordinary occasions.
THE WATERWORKS.
There was a good deal of talk during the summer of 1886 about the need of waterworks in Monmouth, but the difficulty always was about the water supply. There was no running river near by, shallow wells were uncertain and the water not always the best, and the question of where to get the water was a puz- zle. An engineer was brought, who made various preliminary borings ac different points, but nothing satisfactory was learned. Along in August it was proposed that an artesian well be sunk, and the Monmouth Artesian Well Company was incorporated with about 100 stockholders, including nearly every business man of the city. They met to organize August 28, and chose nine directors, who elected the officers of the company as follows: Presi- dent, H. H. Pattee; secretary, Dr. S. M. Hamil- ton; treasurer, Fred E. Harding; executive committee, H. H. Pattee, N. A. Scott, W. K. Johnson. Soon afterward the company pur- chased part of Block 17 in Quinby & Lawrence's addition on North Sixth street, and drilling soon commenced. The objective point was the St. Peter's sandstone, and this was reached in due time, an unlimited supply of purest water
being found at a depth of 1,230 feet in March, 1887. Then matters rested until July 12, 1888, when the city council instructed the fire and water committee to purchase the artesian well if the price was satisfactory, and soon afterward the purchase was made for $3,000. The coun- cil outlined the route of the first mains to be laid, and let the contract to the Rockford Con- struction Co. for the construction of the plant complete except the engine house, pumps and boilers. The company laid a total of three and one-half miles of mains, which with the rest of the plant then put in cost the city about $33,000. The first test of the works was made March 11, 1889, under the direction of the fire and water committee consisting of W. W. Mc- Cullough, W. B. Wolf and D. C. Gowdy, with Fire Marshal H. A. Webster and Engineer W. A. Child. Streams of water were thrown over three-story buildings, and as high as the cross on the spire of the Catholic church, 'about 150 feet. Large additions to the mains have since been made, a second deep well was put in in 1893, and still a third in 1900, so that at the present time the city is well covered with mains and there is a supply of water sufficient for all demands for years to come. In 1900- 1901 the three wells were connected by tunnels with a ten-foot shaft 175 feet deep, which, with the tunnels, was nearly a year in construction, owing to unforseen difficulties. At the bottom of the shaft was installed a huge pump with a capacity of one million gallons per day, and by this the water is pumped from the three deep wells to the reservoir, or through the mains to the stand tower erected also in 1900 on a lot owned by the city just north of the Burlington Railway tracks and between South Main and South First streets. These improvements were made after plans prepared by Engineer D. W. Mead of Chicago and adopted by the council February 5, 1900, ana cost the city $36,000. R. G. Young was the first superintendent of the waterworks, and C. L. Eby is now in charge. The waterworks furnishes about 1,400 consum- ers, and produces an annual revenue of about $9,000. Eighty-three million gallons of water were pumped and consumed during the year ending April 30, 1902.
The city's first public water supply was fur- nished by two wells, dug by Joshua Boyle by or- der of the town board early in 1839, the year af- ter the incorporation of the town, at a cost of $60. One was in the northeast angle of the pub-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
lic square and the other in the nort_ west angle. One was in the northeast angle of the public square and the other in the northwest angle. Each was eighteen feet deep and three feet in diameter inside the stone wall, and fitted with a windlass and two buckets. Several years later a windmill was placed at one of the wells.
PARKS.
Monmouth has three parks. Central Park is a small, circular plot of ground in the center of the public square. For scores of years the square was open and neglected, the cross- ing of two streets which were parts of State roads. It was subject to the whims of every city council and every street commissioner in turn, and much of the time was a mud hole and a disgrace to the city. In 1890 a fountain was placed in the center of the square, and when the first street paving was done in 1892 the square was paved, with the exception of the portion now included in the park. This por- tion was then surrounded by an iron railing, and the trees and grass were given good care. In 1901 flower beds were added. The park, though small, adds much to the appearance of the square.
West Park is on the south side of West Broadway and between B and C streets. It was originally known as Coburn Square, and later as Union Park. It is thickly set with large shade trees, and is a favorite place for outdoor meetings and public gatherings in warm weather.
North Park is in Quinby & Lawrence's ad- dition in the north part of the city. It is bounded on the north by Franklin avenue, Oll the east by Fifth street, on the south by Euclid avenue, and on the west by Park Place, a short street running from Euclid avenue to Franklin. The park includes one block, is well shaded, and is used considerably by the resi- dents of that part of the city.
There once was South Park, on the east side of South Main street. It is now occupied by the Iowa Central station and grounds.
THE CITY BUILDING.
The city council on March 2, 1868, instructed Mayor Samuel Wood to purchase of N. and J. Carr the northeast corner of Lot 2, Block 25, in the old town plat, for city purposes. The
purchase was made, and under plans drawn up by Aldermen Dunn and Blackburn the build- ing on East First avenue between Main and First streets was soon erected. It is a sub- stantial brick building 38x45 feet, two stories high, affording room for the fire apparatus on the first floor and the city offices and fire- men's headquarters on the second. The build- ing was remodeled in 1900, and an addition built to the rear, with stables for the fire de- partment horses on the ground floor and a room for the city council meetings above.
In the fall of 1874 the city bought the lot on East Fourth avenue on which Engine House No. 2 was erected. The chemical engine and one of the hose outfits were housed here until the city building on First avenue was remod- eled in 1900, when all the fire apparatus ex- cept one hose cart at Hose House No. 3 in the Fourth Ward was placed in the central build- ing.
THE CITY PRISON.
The city prison on Lot 1, Block 10, on North Main street between the public square and Archer avenue, was built in the summer of 1887. Previous to that time the county jail had been used for city prisoners, but that was not satis- factory to the county authorities and the city building was erected. It was opened for use in October, and the first inmate was a man em- ployed on the Santa Fe construction.
THE FIVE WARDS.
The division of the city into the five wards as they now exist was made by the city council by ordinance passed November 22, 1882. The First ward is in the central part of the city, comprising what was the original town plat. It was bounded on the north by Boston avenue, on the east by Sixth street, on the south by the C., B. & Q. railroad and Fifth avenue, and on the west by B street. The Second ward is northeast of the First, east of North First street and north of East Second avenue; the Third, northwest of the First, west of North First street and north of West Second avenue; the Fourth, southwest of First, south of West Second avenue and west of South First street; and the Fifth, southeast of the First, east of South First street and south of East Second avenue.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
STREET NAMES CHANGED.
The city council at its meeting November 15, 1887, changed the names of several of the streets in order more conveniently to carry out a scheme for numbering the houses, but the present names of the streets were not adopted until January 5, 1891, when an ordinance was passed changing the names of all the streets but Main street and Broadway. The streets run north and south and the avenues east and west. The streets east of Main street are First, Second, Third, etc., and those west of Main street are A, B, C, D, etc. The avenues south of Broadway are First, Second, Third, etc., and those north of Broadway are Archer, Boston, Clinton, Detroit, Euclid, Franklin, Girard and Harlem. The alley at the southeast corner of the public square is Market Place, and the short street along the west side of North Park is Park Place.
LEVELS AND GRADES.
Up to 1890 there was no uniform system of levels and grades in Monmouth. That summer arrangements were made with Engineer John F. Wallace of Chicago to act as consulting en- gineer in making up such a system, and the survey began under his direction July 16. J. E. Miller and D. M. Grier did the work. The C., B. & Q. railroad company had recorded the track at the crossing as 775.327 feet above the sea level. The center of the public square was found to be seven feet lower, or 768.34, and with this as a basis the streets were sur- veyed and recorded and permanent benchmarks established. Benchmarks were put up at vari- ous street corners, a railroad spike being driven into the root of a tree for a mark wherever practicable. The elevations of Monmouth and the Mississippi valley are computed from the level of the Gulf of Mexico at Biloxi, Miss.
THE CITY FOUNTAIN.
The fountain in Central Park was erected in 1890, the water being first turned on October 16th of that year. It cost about $350, most of the money being raised by private subscrip- tions. The fountain is eighteen feet three inches high.
MONMOUTH'S SEWER SYSTEM.
The first sewer system in Monmouth was the Broadway and Main street system, established
by ordinance passed by the city council August 17, 1891. It provided for the construction of a sewer around the square; from the square out East Broadway to Sixth street; from the square down on South Main street to Fourth avenue; and down South First street from Broadway to the intersection of the water course between First and Second avenues. The city was to pay 20 per cent. of the cost, the remainder to be raised by special assessment on the ad- joining property, one-fifth when the work was completed and the rest in four equal annual installments. The contract was let to Peter Simons of Burlington for $5,012.94, and work began October 12 and was completed in Decem- ber. This sewer system has been extended and added to each year, and now covers the city pretty thoroughly. This year (1902) a sewage disposal plant after the septic plan is to be erected on land northeast of the city, where all the city's sewage will be emptied and dis- posed of.
STREET PAVING.
Street paving talk began in earnest in Mon- mouth during the winter of 1891-92, and the council held a meeting March 21, 1892, to con- sider the matter. After a free discussion it was unanimously voted to pave, and to provide the funds by special taxation. April 5 the first ord- inances were passed, providing for six districts and covering the public square and parts of Main street, Broadway, Second avenue and First street. The preliminary surveys for the paving began April 7, the contracts were let May 2, and the first brick was laid July 1 by Alderman C. L. Buck, chairman of the street and alley committee. It was at the corner of East Broadway and South First street. The contractors were Wilson & Thatcher, who paved the square, and W. W. Mccullough, who had the rest of the work. May 2, 1892, West Fourth avenue and E street were ordered paved from Main street to the C., B. & Q. depot grounds. Soon afterward other districts were added, and now the public square and some eighty blocks are paved with brick, most of it single course on a bed of sand.
CITY LIGHTING.
When the Edison Illuminating Co. put in its plant in 1888, a system of incandescent lights was arranged for the lighting of the streets, which previous to that time had been
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
lighted by gas. In the winter of 1892-93 the company added to the facilities of the plant, and the city changed to the arc system of light- ing. The new lights were turned on in January, 1893. . There are about 110 arc lights in the street lighting system, costing the city $66 each per year.
POLICE DEPARTMENT.
The Monmouth Police Department consists at the present time of City Marshal A. B. Holli- day, Sergeant Webb Morrison and Officers J. T. Graham and George Weidenbauer. All were appointed by the mayor subject to the approval of the Council. The police station was built in 1887, the force appeared for the first time in uniform July 19, 1893, and the patrol wagon and horse were added to the department in July, 1898.
ADDITIONS TO THE CITY.
Monmouth as originally platted occupied the southwest quarter of Section 29, and that is still known as the "old town plat." In 1841 the limits were extended to include one-half mile in each direction from the public square; and the charter adopted by the legislature in 1852 fixed the boundaries at one mile from the cen- ter of the public square in each direction, mak- ing the city cover four square miles of terri- tory. In June, 1853, Joseph Paddocks made and recorded a survey of the city as included in these boundaries, setting a stone at each corner; and stones on North Main street, South Main street, East Broadway, and West Broadway, each 320 rods from the center of the public square. In 1859 the charter was amended, and the city limits curtailed to all of Section 29, the east half of Section 30, the northeast quar- ter of Section 31, and the north half of Section 32; and these lands still comprise the city, though there are out-lots on all sides which are built up and really belong to the city.
The additions to the city since the laying out of the town, with the number of blocks, and the date of the surveys, are as follows: Harding's addition of twenty-four blocks, in 1853; Wood & Carr's addition of 13 blocks, in 1854; Web- ster & Holloway's addition, 7 blocks, in 1854; South addition, 22 blocks, in 1855; Thompson's addition, 6 blocks, in 1855; Coburn's addition 16 blocks, in 1856; Thompson's supplement to Coburn's addition, 2 blocks, 1857; Haley's ad- dition, 12 blocks, in 1857; College addition,
22 blocks, 1059; Harding's supplement, 7 fractional blocks, in 1861; Gowdy's addition, 2 blocks, in 1861; Hill's addition, a triangular block, in 1861; Quinby & Lawrence's addition, 27 blocks, in 1864; Wood's addition, 3 irregu- lar blocks, in 1866; Clark's addition, 5 blocks, four of which have since been vacated, in 1866; Morgan's addition, 4 blocks, in 1866; Jenks' addition, 1 block (Monmouth Plow works site), in 1867; Clark's block 3, in 1857; H. G. Hard- ing's subdivision (Corktown), in 1866; addition to Morgan's, 17 blocks, in 1875; Morgan's second addition, 16 blocks, in 1876; Dryden's addition, 5 blocks, in 1885; East addition, 1 block, in 1888; Sipher's addition, 16 blocks, in 1891-92; Columbian addition, 3 blocks, in 1891; Broadway addition, 4 blocks, in 1891; supple- ment to Thompson's addition, 1 block, in 1891; F. W. Harding's addition, 3 blocks, in 1891; supplement to Broadway addition, 1 block, in 1891; supplement to Sipher's addition, 1 block, in 1891; P. Brodine's addition, 1 block, in 1891; Jas. B. Clark's addition, 14 blocks, in 1892; Fos- ter & Rugh's addition, 11 blocks, in 1892; South Park addition, 8 blocks, in 1893; West Park ad- dition, 4 blocks, in 1893; Babcock's addition, 4 blocks, in 1893; West Side addition, 9 blocks, in 1893; supplement to Foster & Rugh's addi- tion, 4 blocks, in 1893; Dunn's addition, 2 blocks, in 1894; Apsey's addition, 1 block, in 1895; Firoved & Sexton's addition, 6 blocks, in 1899; Hoy & Groves' addition, 1 block, in 1899; Cox & Hallam's addition, 6 blocks, in 1900; Martin's addition, 2 blocks, in 1900; sup- plement to Firoved & Sexton's addition, 2 blocks, in 1900; Perry's addition, 2 blocks, in 1902.
A movement was on foot in the spring of 1899, to have H. G. Harding's subdivision, popu- larly known as Corktown, incorporated as a village, in order that saloons might be li- censed there when there were none in Mon- mouth, but the required population was not found and the matter had to be dropped.
TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.
Monmouth has two telephone exchanges, with in the neighborhood of 1000 'phones in the city, and lines extending out into the country and reaching large numbers of the farmers of the vicinity. Connections are also made with adjoining cities and towns, and by long dis- tance lines with all parts of the Union.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
The Central Union Telephone Company put in its exchange here in the winter of 1881-82. The lines were in full operation about the first of February, 1882, and the line to Kirk- wood was made a few months later; also the connection with Galesburg. The Marshall- Tobie Telephone lines in Mercer county were connected with the Central Union exchange March 6, 1896, and extended on south to Rose- ville and Swan Creek the next fall, and the Henderson County Telephone Company's lines were connected with the exchange September 15, 1897. The Central Union rebuilt its plant the summer of 1900, and has also put in several farmers' lines during the past two years.
As a result of agitation in favor of a com- peting telephone exchange, which began as early as the winter of 1889-1900, a franchise for an independent exchange was given by the city council to W. W. Mccullough, president of the Monmouth Business Men's Association, September 18, 1900. Bills & Wortham, of Chi- cago, as promoters put in the plant and or- ganized the Monmouth Telephone Company with a capital stock of $35,000, which was after- ward increased to $50,000. The company was chartered October 22, 1900, and temporarily or- ganized November 17 following, with F. L. Bills as president and C. M. Smith secretary. January 11, 1901, it was permanently organized with the following officers: President, W. P. Graham; vice president, W. J. McQuiston; treasurer, H. B. Smith; secretary and manager, R. Lahann; directors, W. P. Graham, H. B. Smith, W. J. McQuiston, R. Lahann, J. F. Searles, C. C. McClung, James Galbraith, G. A. Schussler, Jesse Lanphere. Work began on the plant about November 1, 1900, and service started with one hundred 'phones in opera- tion May 3, 1901. R. Lahann was made man- ager May 14, 1901. The Henderson County Farmers' Line, which had previously estab- lished a local station at the store of McQuiston & Son, was connected with the Monmouth Tele- phone Company's exchange June 18, 1901; the line to Gerlaw and Alexis was connected in August of the same year; and lines to Ber- wick, Little York, Roseville, Galesburg, and a number of farmers' lines later.
ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.
The Monmouth Traction Company was li- censed by the secretary of state March 13,
1902, with W. W. Mccullough, S. S. Hallam, and W. B. Young as incorporators, and a capi- tal stock of $10,000. In July, 1899, these gentle- men had asked for a franchise to construct and operate a street railway in the city, and it had been granted by the city council August 7 fol- lowing. The franchise now in force includes rights on all the principal streets of the city, and the company is required to have the line in operation on each street by the spring of 1904 or the franchise becomes void. The work of con- struction is to begin at once, and it is promised that the cars will be running within the speci- fied time. The company expects also to con- struct several interurban lines running out from Monmouth.
In 1875 Monmouth had a street railway (on paper). Articles of incorporation were filed with the secretary of state in May of that year for the Monmouth Street Railway. The capital of the company was $25,000, and it proposed to build the railway from the C., B. & Q. passenger station, then at the crossing on South Third street, up First street to the square, then west to the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis station, and possibly out East Broadway to the college. The road never was built.
Another Monmouth Street Railway Company was incorporated March 25, 1882, but neither did it ever get any farther than on paper. The incorporators were Samuel Douglass, J. E. Alexander and Dr. N. S. Woodward, and the capital stock was $25,000.
March 4, 1891, the secretary of state licensed the incorporation of the Monmouth Motor Street Railway Company. The capital stock was $30,000 and the incorporators were J. E. Foster, J. W. Foster and G. W. Foster, all resi- dents of Monmouth. The object stated in the charter was to "construct and maintain a rail- way in the streets and alleys of Monmouth, Warren county, for the transportation of pas- sengers, baggage, freight, fuel, and the United States mails by electricity or other power and to furnish light and heat." A franchise was se- cured from the city, and a portion of the route was mapped out, but matters never went any further and the franchise was forfeited.
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