Arcola
Illinois
Add an Article
Add an Event
Edit
City Of Arcola
History
In the mid 1800s, among the tall grasses of the Illinois prairie, a group of pioneers, looking for a place to settle, stopped along the banks of the Okaw River.
There, these pioneers established a settlement and named it Bagdad. They constructed the necessary buildings such as a brickyard, mill, blacksmith shop and a general store. Little did these settlers know that they were laying the foundation for one of the most historically-rich towns in Central Illinois.
The 1850s brought the announcement of the construction of a railroad that would connect the cities of Chicago and Centralia and run just to the east of Bagdad.
In 1855, the Illinois Central Railroad surveyed and plotted a tract of land along both sides of the newly completed railroad in order to build a city. The new community was called Okaw, after the river located a few miles west.
After applying for a post office, railroad officials were surprised to hear that the state of Illinois already had a town named Okaw, so a new name had to be found.
After asking for suggestions for the new name of the town, James Kearney, a local citizen, proposed that the new city be called Arcola, and so the railroad town of Okaw became the town today known as Arcola.
Business boomed in Arcola, and in the winter of 1856 the residents of Bagdad loaded the entire town, buildings and all, on wooden sleds and moved the whole settlement of Bagdad to Arcola.
In 1860, the Presbyterians built the first church in Arcola, a single-story wooden structure located on the same lot as the current church.
Five years later in 1865, The Arcola Herald, Arcola's first newspaper, was established by John Gruelle. At about the same time, a local gentleman named Col. Cofer experimented by planting 20 acres of broomcorn on his land.
The crop did so well that the popularity of broomcorn took off. Soon after, nearly half of the broomcorn grown in the United States came from the Arcola area. And so began the storied history of broomcorn in Arcola.
While broomcorn was becoming big business in Arcola, another man was sowing the seeds of another Arcola legacy.
Johnny Gruelle, born in Arcola in 1882, loved to write and draw cartoons almost as much as his young daughter Marcella loved to hear his stories. Her favorite character from her father's tales was Raggedy Ann.
But when Marcella died as the result of a vaccination shot, Johnny had a hard time coping with the loss. He found that the best way to overcome Marcella's death was to write the stories he created for her. From these humble beginnings came the stories of Raggedy Ann, whose popularity has made Johnny Gruelle, as well as Arcola, famous around the world.
Six years ago, a museum named after Johnny Gruelle was opened on Main Street. The driving forces behind the museum's creation were Joni Gruelle Wannamaker, the granddaughter of Johnny Gruelle, and her husband, Tom.
In the mid 1800s, among the tall grasses of the Illinois prairie, a group of pioneers, looking for a place to settle, stopped along the banks of the Okaw River.
There, these pioneers established a settlement and named it Bagdad. They constructed the necessary buildings such as a brickyard, mill, blacksmith shop and a general store. Little did these settlers know that they were laying the foundation for one of the most historically-rich towns in Central Illinois.
The 1850s brought the announcement of the construction of a railroad that would connect the cities of Chicago and Centralia and run just to the east of Bagdad.
In 1855, the Illinois Central Railroad surveyed and plotted a tract of land along both sides of the newly completed railroad in order to build a city. The new community was called Okaw, after the river located a few miles west.
After applying for a post office, railroad officials were surprised to hear that the state of Illinois already had a town named Okaw, so a new name had to be found.
After asking for suggestions for the new name of the town, James Kearney, a local citizen, proposed that the new city be called Arcola, and so the railroad town of Okaw became the town today known as Arcola.
Business boomed in Arcola, and in the winter of 1856 the residents of Bagdad loaded the entire town, buildings and all, on wooden sleds and moved the whole settlement of Bagdad to Arcola.
In 1860, the Presbyterians built the first church in Arcola, a single-story wooden structure located on the same lot as the current church.
Five years later in 1865, The Arcola Herald, Arcola's first newspaper, was established by John Gruelle. At about the same time, a local gentleman named Col. Cofer experimented by planting 20 acres of broomcorn on his land.
The crop did so well that the popularity of broomcorn took off. Soon after, nearly half of the broomcorn grown in the United States came from the Arcola area. And so began the storied history of broomcorn in Arcola.
While broomcorn was becoming big business in Arcola, another man was sowing the seeds of another Arcola legacy.
Johnny Gruelle, born in Arcola in 1882, loved to write and draw cartoons almost as much as his young daughter Marcella loved to hear his stories. Her favorite character from her father's tales was Raggedy Ann.
But when Marcella died as the result of a vaccination shot, Johnny had a hard time coping with the loss. He found that the best way to overcome Marcella's death was to write the stories he created for her. From these humble beginnings came the stories of Raggedy Ann, whose popularity has made Johnny Gruelle, as well as Arcola, famous around the world.
Six years ago, a museum named after Johnny Gruelle was opened on Main Street. The driving forces behind the museum's creation were Joni Gruelle Wannamaker, the granddaughter of Johnny Gruelle, and her husband, Tom.