75 years ago — 1947
Mr. and Mrs. John Hedges of Flat Rock narrowly escaped being seriously injured about midnight last night when their automobile struck a stray horse on the highway about three miles south of Gordon.
The couple were on their way home from Robinson where Hedges had just gotten off work on the night shift at the refinery. when the horse trotted out in front of their car.
The horse was badly bruised and cut between the front legs while the Hedges car was badly damaged. Mrs. Hedges suffered a slight scalp wound. The owner of the horse had not been found yet today and it was believed that it would be necessary to kill the animal.
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The Robinson Grade School qualified eleven boys for the state final track and field meet at the district meet of the Illinois Elementary School Athletic Association held Saturday at Monticello, Ill. The state meet will be held at Lincoln, Ill., on Saturday.
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The Crawford County State Bank here has just completed a remodeling bank operation which will give the bank employees much greater working space, and provide improved facilities for customers.
Space to the rear of the bank formerly employed by the water company has been used for a new bookkeeping meeting room, board of directors meeting room, and office space, and new rooms have been provided for safety deposit patrons. A third storage vault for records has been equipped in the basement of the building.
Interior of the bank also gains considerable daylight opening the length of the building to the large north windows.
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John Cody, veteran city mail carrier, stated today that he and his wife had sold their five room home on North Howard street to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Ducommon and plan to leave soon for the West where it was believed that the climate would help Mrs. Cody to recover her health. She has been seriously ill for the past several months. Their daughter, Mrs. William Wykoff plans to accompany them.
Cody was granted a leave of absence from the local post office.
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50 years ago — 1972
The Thunderbird mine, located between Shelburn and Farmersburg, Indiana, will close May 26.
Adverse economic conditions were cited as the reason for the termination of the operation, which began in 1959.
It is expected that many of the 200 employees now working will take positions with other AMAX mines in operation throughout the state and with the new Wabash Mine, located near Mt. Carmel, which is expected to be in operation within the year.
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The requirement that all mobile home owners in Illinois would have to pay a privilege tax has been ruled unconstitutional, according to Crawford County State’s Attorney Robert Whitmer.
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What is believed to be the longest trial in Crawford County history ended here Tuesday afternoon, having occupied the time of the jurors for practically a solid month.
The litigation, about as complicated as possible involved suits and countersuits among Robert Tuttle of Tuttle Bin Co. of Hutsonville; Walter Daily, Daily Mill and Elevator of Palestine; and Butler grain bin manufacturing firm. It was all over payment for a grain bin made by Butler and sold to Daily by Tuttle, and not paid for.
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Lincoln Trail College Foundation officially accepted approximately 160 acres of land as a gift from the Board of Trustees of District 529, Illinois Eastern Junior Colleges, at its monthly board meeting Tuesday night.
The land, mostly the former Dennis farm, purchased by the district at the same time as the Heath farm to provide a suitable campus for the new junior college, is the acreage in excess of the amount Illinois Junior College Board guidelines permit the district to retain.
The remainder of the total purchase has been found adequate for the permanent buildings of the college, on which construction is about to begin, and also provided the land for the present temporary structures where classes now are being held.
The land given to the Foundation is west of the campus.
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25 years ago — 1997
Coordinating four school districts became the biggest obstacle to keeping kids in the classroom on certain holidays here. It turned out to be an obstacle that just wasn’t worth the trouble to tackle.
“We talked about it,” Hutsonville Unit 1 Superintendent Roger Eddy said. “But because there were four different districts, four different boards, four different faculties and four different unions involved there were enough people who didn’t want to test the waters.
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A little rain did nothing to slow down the installation of new signs at the Robinson Hershey plant Monday. The old Leaf Inc. signs in front of the plant and over the main entrance came down and were replaced by signs that bear the name “Hershey Chocolate USA.
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Oblong Lake will soon be bordered by a new “Dedication Park” to honor contributors to the lake’s renovation. Oblong Lake Committee President Rick Holt said the new mini-park is one way to pay for the first phase of the project, expected to get underway in June and cost more than $170,000. The site will include a memorial granite wall and boulders, in addition to plants and trees.