Arthur history facts
Arthur’s Time Capsule
Arthur’s Historical Timeline
1818 – Illinois becomes the 21st State.
1830’s – Fur trappers, hunters, and the first settlers move into the area.
1840 – Malden Jones moves into Bourbon Township and is elected to the State Legislature. He became one of the wealthiest men in the area and knew Abraham Lincoln.
1850 – A Congressional Land Grant that encompasses land from Chicago to Cairo is given the Illinois Central Railroad.
1856 – The Illinois Central Railroad is completed, which passes through Arcola, making it the drop-off point for development to the west.
1859 – Douglas County is formed.
1867 – Dr. John B. Rigney becomes the first physician in the Arthur area.
1870 – The area around future Arthur is being extensively farmed.
1872 – John W. Sears builds the first house in the original settlement, which is a two-story structure and uses the first story as a general store.
1872, October 25 – The first railroad train passes through Arthur.
1872 – Dr. John P. Lamb becomes Arthur’s first resident physician.
1873, January 20 – Timothy Warren, son of Arthur’s founder, Michael Warren, is appointed as the first Arthur Postmaster.
1873, February 16 – Olivia Mae (Sears) Hooton is born. She is generally considered the first-born of Arthur even though the town is not founded until September.
1873 – W. H. Ward of brings a stock of goods from Arcola and opens a store managed by J. W. Barrum who later becomes the owner of the first drug store of the original town.
1873 – Joel Miller builds a large two-story building on the southwest corner of Vine Street and Railroad Street (now Progress Street). The lower floor is a drug store and a hardware store. The first church and Sunday school services of the town are held on the second floor.
1873 – The national economic “Panic of 1873” does not stop the growth of the town. Three grain offices open up for business and thirty new homes are under construction.
1873 – Mrs. Banta starts a subscription school in the upper floor of Joel Miller’s hardware store.
1873, July – Douglas County Surveyor, Henry C. Niles, certifies the town surveying.
1873, September 2 – Michael Warren enters the plat of Arthur with the Moultrie County Board of Supervisors, which is considered the founding date of Arthur.
1874, November 4 – Four area railroad companies merge into one called the Illinois Midland Railroad.
1874, December 30 – The first addition, Reeves Addition, is added to the town.
1875 – John W. Sears builds a new store in the original town.
1875 - The first town hall is built by J. W. Sears, but is destroyed by fire four years later.
1875, January 30 – The second addition, Murphy’s Addition, is added to the town.
1876 – Union District No. 7 school district is formed and the first classes are held in a new school building on the southeast corner of Vine and Park Streets in 1877.
1877, April – Arthur is incorporated as a Village.
1877, June 12 – The Village of Arthur holds its first election.
1877 – Arthur’s first community band is organized by George Vonlanken.
1879, July 3 – Fire destroys most of the businesses on the west side of the first block of South Vine Street.
1880 – The Cook School House is moved into town to become the Union Church.
1881 – Naurice (Watkins) Maxwell opens Arthur’s first millinery and store for ladies’ apparel.
1881 – The Vine Street Christian Church (originally known as the East Side Christian Church) is organized. In 1883, five blocks in the Murphy Addition are purchased for $150 and its first church is built in the same year.
1883 – J. D. Warren starts the West Side Harness Shop.
1883 – The Arthur Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) Lodge No. 742 is founded.
1883, November – The Lincoln Street Christian Church reorganizes and later moves into its new church in 1884. This church group originally organized on September 25, 1871, but dissolved in the 1940’s and the church was torn down.
1883, November – The first Amish Mennonite family moves into the Arthur community.
1885 – Arthur’s first newspaper, The Arthur Signal, is published.
1885, August 30 – The First Baptist Church organizes and, four years later its first church is dedicated on May 12, 1889.
1887 – The first Arthur Graphic is published.
1887 – Arthur hosts its first horse fair and the town becomes well-known for its fine horses.
1887 – Herman Stock begins his leather boot repair store that later becomes Stock’s Shoe Store.
1887 – Illinois Midland reorganizes as the Terre Haute and Peoria Railroad.
1889, February 4 – The Village purchases four acres of land to create the Arthur Cemetery.
1889, February 27 – Lovernia Eoline (Shields) Stillens, age 36, is the first person buried in the Arthur Cemetery. She died five days after giving birth to her sixth child.
1889, February 27 – The Arthur Homestead and Loan is chartered.
1890 – Arthur’s first bank, the Bank of Arthur, is the first incorporated bank in Moultrie County.
1892 – Warren M. Fleming opens the Fleming Funeral Business, the first of its kind in Arthur.
1892, May 13 – Arthur’s first high school graduating class receives their diplomas.
1893 – The Arthur Lodge No. 825 of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons is chartered.
1893 – Dr. P. W. Murton becomes Arthur’s first dentist.
1893, November – The Arthur Methodist Church is organized and moves into its new church building on the northwest corner of Luke and Walnut Streets in 1899.
1894 – N. S. Monroe invents his “Jumbo Road Machine” for road maintenance and begins manufacturing operations in Arthur two years later.
1895, October 7 – The Arthur Police Department is established by Village ordinance.
1896 – Arthur’s first law office is opened by Marion Watson.
1897 – The Joel Miller building is torn down on the corner of Vine and Progress Streets to make room for the new Reeves and Fleming Opera House.
1897, September 26 – Michael Hoblican Warren, aged 77, considered the founder of Arthur, dies.
1897, December 23 – The first performance in Arthur’s new opera house is performed by the Hoyt Comedy Company who presents the smash-hit play The Texas Steer.
1898, September 22 – The Village borrows $400 to purchase land from the 300 Block of South Vine Street east to Ash Street to create Arthur’s first park.
1899 – The Arthur Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star holds its first meeting.
1899, November 13 – The Bank of Arthur is chartered as the 5233rd National Bank with capital of $50,000.00. Fred Matters is the first president of the bank and James E. Morris is its first cashier.
1900 – The Arthur Public Library, originally known as the Arthur Home Library, is started when forty residents donate $10 each to purchase books. The books are placed in Homrighous’s Jewelry Store and he is paid $6.25 per month to serve as librarian and for the use of part of his building.
1901 – The first telephone company is established with thirty-five subscribers. By 1905 there are 275 subscribers in Arthur.
1901 – Arthur authoress, Ida Dorman Morris, wife of the First National Bank of Arthur’s president, James E. Morris, publishes her first books, Pacific Coast Vacation and Travels of a Water Drop.
1901, October 31 – The downtown Arthur hotel is destroyed by fire.
1901, November 10 – Most of the businesses on the east side of the first block of South Vine Street are destroyed by fire.
1901, December 10 – Arthur’s new brick schoolhouse on South Vine Street burns down. Arson is suspected.
1902 – The Arthur Driving Club is organized and builds what is reported to be the fastest quarter-mile horse racetrack in the State on the northwest edge of town. Well-attended baseball games are played between competing town teams on the infield of the track.
1904 – An acetylene plant is built to supply gas for street lighting and private homes.
1905 – The business of Housman and Wells, Clothiers is established with a stock of $10,000 of “gents’ furnishings.
1905 – Five Arthur citizens become the first owners of automobiles. All the cars are the same except for color and are known as “The Model” and built in Auburn, Indiana.
1905 – Twelve passenger trains serve Arthur daily.
1905, August 4 – Eighteen-year-old Augusta Brown sells her prize-winning pig at the Illinois State Fair for $7.50.
1906 – Eads Brothers grocery and dry goods store opens.
1907 – John F. Martin is elected mayor on a platform to pave Vine Street, and the street is paved with brick soon after.
1907 – The Village Board of Trustees disbands the Union Church and donates $450 of the proceeds from its sale toward the construction of a library.
1908, August 15 – Construction begins on a new library building on South Vine Street.
1908 – The Arthur Women’s Club is formed.
1908 – Reeves Bros. is established as a hardware, furniture, and stove store.
1910 – Dan Evans buys a new Ford automobile and provides a taxi service for the town.
1910, March 8 – The State Bank of Arthur is organized with capital of $24,000.00.
1912, March 20 – A disastrous ice storm destroys all telephone and telegraph communications and ruins most of the trees in Arthur.
1911 – One of the largest crowds ever gathered in Arthur is to witness their first airplane flight by a man from Terre Haute who brought his “new invention” to town by railroad.
1913 – Arthur installs its first waterworks system with water mains and a 50,000 gallon high pressure water tank at a cost of $9500.00.
1913 – Arthur businessman Warren Fleming is killed in the line of duty while serving as Moultrie County Sheriff.
1914 – Electricity comes to Arthur.
1914 – The formation of a township high school is created.
1915 – The first mile south of Arthur is oiled with a new type of road oil.
1915, October 15 – George and Hazel Bradford purchases the jewelry store on Vine Street and establishes Brad’s Inc.
1916 – A cornerstone for a new township high school is laid at its location at the south edge of town.
1916, April – The First Methodist Church dedicates its new church building on the northeast corner of Hickory and Illinois Streets.
1917 – Dr. Thomas L. Graham starts his veterinary work in Arthur. His son, Dr. T. L. Graham Jr. joins the business in 1948, and another son, Dr. Robert Graham joins the business in 1957.
1918 – John M. Ellison begins selling automobiles from the Maxwell Motor Company and Fleming Bros. begins selling Overland automobiles that are being built in Terra Haute, IN.
1918, May – The first class from the Arthur Township High School graduates.
1920 – The Arthur Fire Department becomes motorized.
1921 – The Arthur Parent-Teachers Association is organized.
1922 – Arthur Martin and Joel Fitzjarrald start Progress Manufacturing Company, later known as Progress Industries, Inc. With six men and one workshop, the company’s first product, a 10-gallon visible gasoline pump, is being turned out at a rate of 25 units per day.
1923 – Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Dawson establishes Dawson Apparel Shop that remains a family-owned ladies’ apparel shop for 46 years.
1924, October 1 – Opening Day of the first Arthur Community Fair.
1925 – The business Pribble and Cahill is selling men’s clothing, hats, and shoes and advertising “Dress Well and Succeed.”
1925, August 26 – The Arthur Fair is officially incorporated as the Moultrie-Douglas County Fair.
1929 – Ernest E. Aschermann establishes a Ford car dealership called “Aschermann Motor Company” in downtown Arthur.
1929 – A newspaper article reports that Arthur is a “city of 1500 friendly and progressive people . . . famous for its ability to do big things, due no doubt, to its wonderful slogan – ‘We Will.’”
1932 – Arthur Alumnus George Corbett becomes a member of the Chicago Bears football team.
1933 – The State paves Route 133 with concrete.
1933 – Bernice (Piper) Hovermale opens Arthur’s first modern beauty shop.
1933, March – Carl Grantham celebrates his grand opening of Grantham Drugs.
1934 – The bricks of Vine Street are turned over and re-laid.
1934 – The Arthur Evening Women’s Club is organized.
1937 – A new gymnasium is added to the high school.
1937 – The Arthur High School Band places first in the State competition and places in the National Competition held in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
1938 – Eli D. Herschberger and his father begins a drainage business that eventually becomes Advanced Drainage of Illinois, Inc.
1939 – A sewer and drainage system is installed.
1939 – John A. Rutledge joins the law firm founded by Marion Watson.
1940, September 15 – The Arthur Mennonite Church is organized.
1941 – Natural gas comes to Arthur.
1941, April 17 – “Cheese Day” is celebrated for the opening of the new Arthur Cheese Factory.
1943, April 10 – A disastrous fire destroys large sections out Progress Industries. The company moves quickly to rebuild so that it can continue supplying products for the war effort.
1944, April 12 – An explosion at Progress Industries causes the largest fire in Arthur’s history.
1945, January 10 – Progress Industries receives the nation’s highest award to industry for its contributions to the war effort.
1946 – Gottfried Stock and Morris Dippo establish the Ben Franklin Store.
1947 – William (Bob) and Grace Randall establish Randall Electric, which remains a family-owned business for 76 years.
1947 – Floyd Applegate builds a new grocery store on the 200 block of East Columbia called “Highway Market.”
1948, March 30 – Village Trustees vote to purchase Arthur’s first police car.
1948 – Arthur is linked to Route 36 by concrete pavement.
1948 – The Arthur Community Unit District #305 is organized.
1950 – Arthur is one of the first towns in the area to adopt zoning and planning practices.
1950 – Progress Industries creates a semi-public park east of its factory grounds.
1951, September – The Arthur Rotary Club is organized.
1951, November 30 – The Arthur Community Park District is created.
1952, June 16 – Land is deeded to the Arthur Park District to create Eberhardt Park.
1952 – A new classroom addition is added to the Grade School building.
1952 – Dwight E. Singer purchases the E. J. Meinzer Insurance Agency and renames the business Singer Insurance Agency.
1953 – O. E. Schrock becomes involved in the building business.
1954 – Darwin Moses starts his restaurant business called “Moses Cafe” in downtown Arthur. He also owns champion bird dogs.
1954 – Willard Yoder purchases “Highway Market” on Route 133 and eventually turns it into a frozen custard business called “Dairy Land.”
1955 – Abe Kuhns and his son, Ben, establish Kuhns Equipment.
1955 – Robert V. Conlin opens the “Arthur Bowl” bowling alley.
1956 – The covered hitch rack on East Progress Street is built.
1957 – Delbert Taylor, Pete Dunn, and Dwight Singer start Arthur’s first automatic launderette named “Giant Wash.”
1957 – Ed Hein buys the “Delwood” restaurant and renames it the “Old Heidelberg Steak House.”
1957 – Glenn Willoughby becomes the owner of the “Arthur Implement Company” and renames it “Willoughby Implement.”
1957, June 22 – Olivia (Sears) Hooton, aged 84, the first child born in the year Arthur was founded (1873), dies and is laid to rest in Danville, IL.
1958 – Delbert Taylor purchases a men’s clothing business from I. G. Riley and establishes Delbert’s Clothing.
1959 – Wendall Harmon builds and operates a new drive-in restaurant on East Route 133 called the “A & J Drive In.”
1959, September – The Arthur Home opens and begins accepting residents.
1960 – Noel Dicks purchases Grantham Drugs which becomes Dicks Pharmacy six years later.
1964 – A new water tower is erected on East Progress Street.
1964, December – Illinois Consolidated converts the old operator-assisted phone system to a new dial system.
1966 – The original burned-out Arthur bowling alley is remodeled to become a teen-age center called the “Sugar Bowl.”
1968 – Roger Oye starts his business “Roger’s Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning.”
1968, February 1 – The railroad through Arthur becomes part of the Penn Central Railroad System.
1969, July 19 – Johnny Cash performs to a huge crowd of fans at the Moultrie-Douglas County Fair.
1970 – Delbert Taylor moves the downtown pool hall to the building just north of the railroad on the east side of Vine Street and names it the “Golden Que.”
1970, July 4 – A fire completely destroys Odum Seed & Supply Company.
1971 – Erland Kondrup purchases the Arthur Cheese Factory and produces award-winning, internationally-known cheese products.
1972 – John E. Watkins purchases Delbert’s Clothing.
1972 – Delbert and Pat Taylor open “The Villa” women’s clothing store.
1972 – Dean and Charlene Hendrickson establish and operate a floor-covering and home décor business at 228 South Vine.
1973, March 24 – The Arthur Cheese Company holds an open house – the first Cheese Festival.
1973, June – Major downtown renovation is completed on the west side of the 200 Block of Vine Street which involves the creation of Knight’s Court.
1973, June 30 – Advanced Drainage of Illinois has a major fire that destroys over a million feet of drainage tile.
1973, August 18-25 – Arthur holds its Arthur Area Centennial Celebration beginning with the Queens Ball on Saturday, August 18 and ending with the Grand Finale Parade and final performance of Arthurama on Saturday, April 25.
1973, August 22 – Formal opening of the new Arthur Tourist Information Center.
1973, August 25 – A time capsule is buried in the Tourist Information Center to be opened in 2023.
1974, January 7 – After construction of a new concrete grain elevator at its new location on Industrial Parkway, the Arthur Grain Company took in its first load of corn.
1974, January 15 – The new State Bank of Arthur building opens for business at 411 South Vine Street.
1974 – Arthur Industrial Parkway road is completed.
1974 – Major extension of The Arthur Home is underway.
1976, April 22 – John E. Timm passes away and the Timm Trust is created with funds he had bequest to the communities of Arthur and Lovington.
1976, June 20 – Willis Smith Day. Over 300 people attend a ceremony to honor AHS Band Director for his 33 years of service.
1976 – The Village of Arthur annexes 4.7 acres on the northwest corner of town for what will become the Hersch Manor Subdivision.
1977, January 28 – A day to remember called the “Big Blow” snowstorm.
1977 – Plans are presented to the Village of Arthur for a retirement community, Watkins Estates, and also plans for a motel to be built on the south side of Route 133 are presented.
1977, April – Judith Edmundson is the first woman elected to the Arthur Village Board.
1977 – Trial wells are drilled for Arthur’s water supply on property near Route 36. Permanent wells are drilled there two years later.
1977 – The Illinois Commerce Commission approves two railroad upgrades, but closes the Illinois Street crossing despite local protests.
1977 – Plans are being made for a new Surrey Lane Subdivision.
1978, April – The Arthur Lions Club is formed.
1978, June 4 – R. R. Wilson Day is held to recognize Mr. Wilson for his 26 years as School Superintendent. The athletic field is named Wilson Field in his honor.
1978 – The Village of Arthur passes its 1978-79 Appropriations Ordinance which for the first time exceeds $1 million.
1979, January 22 – Two phoned-in bomb threats cause the evacuation of the high school and junior high buildings.
1979, June 11 – The southeast park grounds is named the Ervin L. Jurgens Park in honor Mr. Jurgens’ contributions to the community.
1980, June – James B. Irwin, the eighth person to walk on the Moon, is the featured speaker at the Moultrie-Douglas County Fair worship service.
1980, August – After negotiations between two companies, the Village Board approves a contract with Rural Cablevision that will bring cable TV to town for the first time.
1983, July 25 – After a rocky start including a change of contractors, years of fund-raising, cost overruns, litigation, and issues with labor unions, the Arthur Swimming Pool opens.
1985, March – A fire causes over $500,000 worth of damage to the Arthur IGA which was started by an incinerator at the rear of the building.
1986, January 13 – After a fifteen hour negotiating session, the Arthur Education Association and the Arthur School Board reach a two-year agreement, narrowly avoiding a teacher strike.
1986 – The Arthur Knights men basketball team goes undefeated (27-0) until losing in the regional championship game to Sullivan.
1987, October 1 – The Arthur Cheese Company closes.
1988, April 21 – A Route 133 auction house/restaurant construction project is completed by Das Huber Haus, Inc., which, years later, becomes Yoder’s Kitchen.
1989, March – The Association of Commerce hosts its first Home & Garden Show at Das Huber Haus.
1989, September 15 – Opening Day of the Great Pumpkin Patch
1990 – The Village of Arthur begins sewer plant expansion which includes the creation of the “lagoon.”
1990, April 20-29 – The Association of Commerce holds its first Arthur Quilt Show and Auction at Das Huber Haus.
1991, November 3 – The Arthur Public Library holds a dedication ceremony for its new building on South Walnut Street.
1992, March 17 – $1 million building bond referendum passes for a new high School gymnasium which officially opens for use in February 1993.
1992 – The Village Board approves the sale of the municipal parking lot on South Hickory Street east of the Dutch Oven for restaurant parking and the construction of a bakery.
1992 – New street lights on aluminum poles, festival wiring, and sidewalks are installed on the west side of downtown.
1992, August 19 – Illinois Consolidated Telephone Company’s new electronic digital telephone system goes into service.
1993 – The Village Board approves plans on the construction of a new road linking West Progress Street to Route 133. Two years later, Vickie Clark’s fourth grade class win’s the honor of naming the new road “Glasgow” after what Arthur was originally called before the Village applied for a post office.
1993 – Voters approve the expansion of the Arthur Public Library District to include all the same area as the Arthur School District.
1993, July 22 – Union Pacific’s “Challenger,” the world’s largest steam locomotive, passes through Arthur during its six-state tour.
1993, October 16 – Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center has its grand-opening of the new Arthur Clinic at 211 South Walnut Street.
1994, April 8 – The “Spring Flood of 1994” has 7.2” of rain fall over a five-day period including 4.75” during a 48-hour period.
1995 – The Village Board approves plans for a new hitch rack in the municipal parking lot on South Walnut Street.
1995 – Arthur CUSD #305 uses a new telephone voice mail system called “The Parent Connection” to provide school information to parents.
1996 – Arthur CUSD #305 publishes its first Internet website. A year later the school provides Internet service to the community.
1998, June 5 – Arthur kicks off its 125th Anniversary celebration with a community play called Future Reminiscence: An Arthur Historical Presentation written by Rod Randall, which was performed in the east high school gym to over 500 people. Other anniversary activities took place primarily during an expanded version of Arthur’s 4th of July celebrations.
1998 – Village of Arthur annexes 14 acres of land belonging to CHI Overhead Doors for the company’s future expansion.
1999 – The Arthur Community Building on East Progress Street is completed. The building also houses the municipal offices and police department.
2000 – The Arthur Merchants Committee hangs a “test” planter on a Vine Street light pole. This is the first hanging flower basket used to decorate the downtown.
2001 – A group of citizens called the “Track Backers” accomplishes its goal of building a new all-weather track and lighting system for Wilson Field.
2002 – The Village of Arthur passes a $400,000 bond referendum, receiving 92% of the vote in favor, for the renovation of the community’s water treatment plant.
2002, September 2 – Arthur launches its first Labor Day parade.
2003 – A new fire and ambulance station is built on Route 133.
2004 – An 80-space asphalt parking lot is built next to the Visitor Center.
2005 – Through a land swap with the Arthur School District, the Village of Arthur acquires land on the west side of North Vine Street for a housing development that is later named Meadowview Subdivision.
2005, October 8 – Arthur hires its first female police officer, Lucy Kingery.
2005 – Verizon does site work for Arthur’s first cell phone tower.
2006 – The Dorothy B. Jurgens Garden Park on the corner of Illinois and Walnut Streets is given to the Village by the Jurgens Family.
2006 – The Arthur Home receives a $5.7 million USDA loan to construct an assisted living facility called Eberhardt Village. Groundbreaking takes place in 2007.
2008 – The Village annexes land on Route 133 for a Subway restaurant that opens for business in 2009.
2009 – The Arthur Area Economic Development Corporation is organized. It is subsequently renamed Simply Arthur.
2011 – Construction of the new Palmer Street bridge is completed which helps reduce the area’s floodplain.
2012 – The Lovington School District is annexed into the Arthur School District.
2014 – The Atwood-Hammond School District becomes part of the Arthur Community Unit School District #305.
2014 – Arthur’s Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) is created.
2015 – Penn Station holds a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the completion of its new facility for musical and other events.
2015 – Delbert’s Clothing closes after being in business for 57 years. A men’s clothing store had been located at this site since 1896.
2016, March-April – Aikman Wildlife Adventure opens up for drive-through visitors. It then soon opens up the park for walk-through visitors.
2016 – The Village of Arthur completes its new Public Works building on West Progress Street.
2017, March – Kayla Hodge is crowned the first Miss ALAH.
2017 – The State Bank of Arthur merges with the Morton Community Bank.
2017, October – The Great Pumpkin Patch greets its 1 millionth customer since its opening day on September 15, 1989.
2018 – The Village Board grants a TIF request to help construct a new building on East Progress Street for the new home of the Moultrie-Douglas County Extension Office.
2019-2020 – The community wrestles with ways of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
2019-2020 – The Village’s $3 million sanitary sewer lining project for the entire town is completed.
2021, June 4 – Businessman and avid Arthur historian, Noel Dicks, passes away.
2022, June – Nucor Corporation purchases C.H.I. Overhead doors for $3 billion.
2022 – The Village’s 58-year-old water tower on East Illinois Street receives a complete makeover thanks to a grant of over $280,000 from Douglas County’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
2022 – The 32-unit Arthur Homes housing project on Rhema Drive completes its first units.
2023, September 2 – The Village of Arthur celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding with a community dinner and program at Penn Station, which includes the opening of the time capsule that had been housed in the Welcome Center since its construction in 1973.
Please email corrections or additions for this timeline to [email protected].
