Kewanee history from the Star Courier archives, compiled by Dave Clarke

Compiled by Dave Clarke
·4 min read

15 years agoFriday, Aug. 24. 2007

  • An open house will be held Sunday at Fresenius Medical Care of Kewanee at 230 W. South St. where the latest treatment opportunities will be offered to the dialysis community of Kewanee. Tours will be given of the newly constructed out-patient clinic. Light refreshments will be served.

  • The Kewanee Strikers U-12 girls traveling soccer team defeated Muscatine 5-4 Saturday in Muscatine, Iowa. Christie Burnett scored three goals and Ashley Folger scored two. Paige Reeser was credited with two assists.

25 years agoSaturday, Aug. 23, 1997

  • Pig E. Sue, the world-famous flying beanie pig, is now available at the Star Courier just in time for Hog Days! Collectable, one-of-a-kind and only 1,200 available. Only $6.50 each.

  • Fifty bicyclists have registered for the Illinois Farm Bureau’s “Team RFD Ride for Ag in the Classroom,” and will bike from the Quad Cities to Danville, Sept. 8-11, stopping in Cambridge on Sunday, Sept. 9, where they will be met by the Cambridge High School Band and served a butterfly pork chop luncheon courtesy of the Henry County Farm Bureau.

50 years agoThursday, Aug. 24, 1972

  • Another first for the Kewanee National Bank — new, unique photo checks! Your 3” X 5” black and white photo in the upper left corner of your personalized checks. This new type of check is designed to help eliminate fraud as well as provide your identity and security. (Kewanee National Bank opened a new facility at the corner of Tenney and South streets (Now the Kewanee branch of the State Bank of Toulon) in April of 1972, moving from its former location on the northwest corner of Tremont an Second streets in downtown Kewanee. The move put the bank closer to Midland Plaza Shopping Center which had opened the year before across South Street with W.T. Grant and Kroger stores as anchors.The new bank had many modern features including three drive-through lanes, state-of the art security systems including TV cameras, sensors for heat, vibration and sound and an “almost impregnable” vault. — D.C.)

  • The open house scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 27, for the new community building in Neponset, has been postponed due to the illness of Neponset mayor Curtis Pickering. The open house will be rescheduled at a later date. (The Neponset Community Building soon opened and has served as the social center for local residents for many years. The village has plans to expand the facility. — D.C.)

75 years agoSaturday, Aug. 23, 1947

  • The Dome Cocktail Lounge, 206 N. Chestnut St., badly damaged by fire a few weeks ago, will re-open tonight. The interior has been completely refurnished and redecorated since the fire, and improvements made to the air conditioning system. The Dome will continue under the management of Leonard “Yit” Anderson and Robert Rogers. (Anderson and Rogers, two WW II Navy vets, purchased the business, on what was known as “Whiskey Row,” in May of 1947. Fire was discovered at 2 a.m.on Thursday, Aug. 7, by a policeman making his rounds. It was thought the blaze resulted from defective wiring in a newly installed juke box. The fire gutted the interior and damaged stock and fixtures. On May 30, 1998, what was thought to be a “purposely set” fire destroyed the building, then the Pioneer Club, owned by Tom May, who purchased the adjacent building to the south and expanded the bar.restaurant, which later became The Boiler Room under new ownership and is now owned by Moore Tires. — D.C.)

  • The Bureau County Plowing Match will be held Tuesday, Aug. 26, at noon, 8-1/2 miles north of Wyanet on the J. S. Templeton farm.

100 years agoThursday, Aug. 24, 1922

  • Kedron Valley, which lies between Sheffield and Annawan, will soon be one of the busiest places in the country, as the harvest time for the big onion crop is at hand. The ranchers put in 250 acres of onions and it is now estimated that it will take 500 rail cars to ship the crop. Twenty-five families are housed in the interesting little settlement this season. Each family looks after five to ten acres of onions.

  • Despite the threatening weather large number of people enjoyed the public concert given baby the Elks band in West Park Tuesday evening. The program was well balanced, with both classical and and popular selections. To date, the band has played 23 engagements this season. This includes special occasions, the Sunday night and free concerts, and others engagements with several more booked.

This article originally appeared on Star Courier: Kewanee history from the Star Courier archives, compiled by Dave Clarke