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The
Ford
County
Historical Society
Ford
County, Illinois |
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Home Page
Tour of
Ford County
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Book
History
Yet to Come
Pump House Museum
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Our County's
Namesake
Thomas Ford
Governor of
Illinois
1842 - 1846
Born 1800 in Uniontown,
Pennsylvania
Died Nov. 12, 1850 in Peoria, Illinois
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About the FCHS
In
the spring of 1968 Dr. W. G. Raudabaugh
of Piper City, a member of the Ford County Board, asked Dr. W.
W. Sauer if he would attempt to form a county historical
society. Each member of the county board agreed to invite 30
people to a public meeting which was held at in the large court
room of the County court house. About 150 people from all parts
from the county attended and after an explanation of the aims of
such a society, Judge Howard Benjamin made the motion which was
passed unanimously to form The Ford County Historical Society.
Over the years bimonthly meetings have been held featuring
programs dealing with many areas of local and area history. Each
September a dinner meeting is held at which special program
material is presented.
In
addition to regular meetings the Society has honored county
students who have taken part in the special history projects.
The Society has reprinted into one volume the Historical Atlas
of 1884, 1904 and 1916 and reprinted The Prairie Farmers
Directory of Ford County for 1917. Using money given by the
children of Merna Vaught, the first
secretary of the Society, a slide presentation dealing with Ford
County history was produced and a copy given to each school in
the county. Several oral history tapes have been made and many
articles on local and county history have been published. An
archival file has grown over the years and contains much
material which has been given to the Society by the public.
President:
Judy Ondercho
Vice President:
Judy Jepsen-Popel
Secretary:
Carol Thilmony
Treasurer:
Pat Gallahue
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Meetings
When: Bi-monthly meetings are held by
the society. They are held in March, May, July, September and November.
The annual dinner meeting is held in September.
Where: Locations for the meetings vary.
Who: The meetings are open to the
public. Reservations are required for the dinner meetings for those who
wish to dine.
What: In addition to the business of the
society, speakers at the meetings presenting topics dealing with many
areas of local and area history.
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2009 Meeting Schedule
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March 20, 2009 - 7:00 PM at
the PBL Little Assembly.
Speaker, Rob Pacey, of Paxton, a recent graduate of the
University of Illinois,
will speak about an event in Ford County History.
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May 15, 2009 - 7:00 PM at the
PBL Little Assembly.
The program will
focus on Abraham Lincoln.
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July 17, 2009 - A walking
tour of Market Street in Paxton.
Gather at the Library at 6:30 pm.
Tour will end at Don's Custard Shop.
Two of many historical events of 2009 should be of special
interest to residents of Ford County. One is the 150th
anniversary of Ford County. The other is the 200th
birthday of Abraham Lincoln. Our programs this year
will focus on these events.
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News and Miscellany
Through
Saturday the Society has an exhibit at Ford County Fair
in Melvin. Included are the quilts from each town,
informational tables from several towns, and items for
sale. These include sesquicentennial items such as
T-shirts, calendars featuring all the towns, and the new
publication put out by the Society, "Memories of Ford
County". The Society is selling several other books as
well.
By
BOB MANEY
Record editor emeritus
The Ford
County Historical Society will hold an evening of
special events to observe the 150th anniversary of
the founding of Paxton and FordCounty.
An ice cream social and a night at the historical
society's museum will be held Friday, July 17,
following a walking tour of the historic downtown.
Events will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Paxton Carnegie
Library, where library Director Anne Newman will
present a program on the library's history and
architecture.
The Illinois Central Railroad Museum will also be
open at 6:30. A walking tour of the historic
downtown will also be held, and it will last between
30 and 45 minutes. The history of some of the early
businesses, as well as buildings' architecture, will
be discussed. The walking tour will end at the
museum, located in the historic water tower and
pumphouse in downtown Paxton, where an ice cream
social will be held.
There will be a special exhibit in the museum of
early photographs of Paxton, all taken from the
museum archives.
Also, a DVD, made by PBL High School and consisting
of pictures from the city's centennial celebration
of 50 years ago, will be shown.
Also, a video of Paxton businesses in the 1930s will
be shown, as well as a video of Paxton history that
was made by the Paxton Area Chamber of Commerce.
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Copyright ©
2009 Ford County Historical Society. All rights
reserved. |
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