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

15 years ago
Friday, June 22, 2007

• Josh Denzer, of Kewanee, had a great day at the Henry County Fair, Thursday, showing the grand champion pair of barrows and reserve grand champion single barrow, all in the Junior Barrow Show. The barrows were raised and fitted for the summer fair season by Denzer and his father, Lee, at their swine finishing facility in rural Toulon.

• A large crowd gathered in Veteran’s Park Thursday evening to hear the New River City Six performance that kicked off this year’s Concerts in the Park series.

25 years ago
Saturday, June 21, 1997

• The Jack Carey Show, featuring country music stars “Exile,” performing all 10 of their No.1 country hits, will be the headliners on stage at the Sheffield Homecoming on Saturday June 28. The annual celebration begins Wednesday, June 25 with the Firemen’s Water Fights at 5:30 p.m. at the fire station.

• Sand volleyball courts have been built at Esser’s Sports Bar and Grill at 200 E. 7th St. Owner Corey Esser announced Friday that the new courts will be the site of a four-person co-ed sand volleyball league beginning Tuesday, July 8.

50 years ago
Thursday, June 22, 1972

• Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Walker made a deceptively low-key campaign visit to Kewanee Wednesday afternoon. After a short street tour and a luncheon with Democratic leaders of the city, Walker cut his Kewanee visit short to spend some time in Sheffield with Mrs. Fred Dean. Her husband, a Democratic precinct committeeman for 27 years, died Monday at age 84. The Deans had hosted Walker in their home during his primary campaign.

• State Rep. James D. Nowlan (R-Toulon), Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, has been appointed an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention to be held in August in Miami, Fla. Nowlan is Gov. Richard Ogilvie’s running mate in the November general election. (Walker beat Ogilvie for Illinois governor, but Richard Nixon and Spiro T. Agnew were more successful after their nomination for president and Vice President, respectively, at the GOP convention. Nowlan finished out his term in the Illinois House then went on to be a college professor and served as Gov. Jim Thompson’s educational advisor. He is a former newspaper publisher and still writes a syndicated column on governmental affairs which appears in a number of newspapers.— D.C.)

75 years ago
Saturday, June 21, 1947

• Frank Ruetz, road commissioner of Kewanee Township, has started a program of improvement on the township roads. The program is being done with funds approved by the voters in a bond issue of $150,000. Approximately 60 miles of township roads will be graded and resurfaced and six or seven miles will be blacktopped. Repairs will also be made on the two township bridges spanning Mud Creek east and west of Illinois Route 78 north of Kewanee.

• Kewanee Motor Company, 419 W. 6th St. now has the new, 1947 General Electric wringer washer with an eight pound capacity, one-control wringer and a full-length skirt to conceal and protect the mechanism. Finished in beautiful, gleaming white, the tub is white porcelain enamel inside and out.

100 years ago
Thursday, June 22, 1922

• Work was started by the city street department today to remark the parking stalls in the business district. The stalls will be outlined with white paint as was used last season. It was found that with systematic parking much room is saved and that many more cars can be parked in one block. (Inventions that changed the world — fire, the wheel, electricity, the internet — and marked spaces for diagonal and parallel parking. How did we ever get along without it? — D.C.)

• Mayor Chester Smith, of Monmouth, and H. F. Darr and R. L. Dobie, of the Curtiss Aeroplane Company, are in Kewanee today, conferring with the Chamber of Commerce in regard to a landing place and air mail service for the city. (Apparently Kewanee didn’t get a landing strip for air mail service. A July 15, 1924 story reports that “In the first 10 days of operation, the air mail service operated by the federal post office department has a record of 96 percent for being on time. Kewanee residents could take advantage of the service but all mail from here had to be sent by train to Chicago, the nearest point on the cross-country air route. It reduced the delivery time to either coast, however, from four days to 24 hours. The cost of mailing a letter from Kewanee was 16 cents. — D.C.)

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