Fairbury was established in 1857 when the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad (later the TP&W) laid its tracks from Peoria to the Indiana border. In 1872, the Chicago & Paducah Railroad laid new tracks from Pontiac through to Fairbury. About two years later, the Chicago & Paducah extended its line from Fairbury southeast to Strawn. Just a few years later, the Strawn extension was removed, and a railroad from Forrest to Strawn was used instead. It has always been a mystery exactly where

During the public comment portion of the most recent Fairbury City Council meeting, Jason Smith presented his plan to convert the older basketball court at Marsh Park into a skate park with steel ramps. The old basketball court is no longer needed because two new basketball courts were recently added to the west side of Marsh Park. Mr. Smith's plan would require adding more concrete to the existing basketball court. An acquaintance of Mr. Smith owns some surplus steel ramp

John Wesley Powell was born in Mount Morris, New York, in 1834, the son of Joseph and Mary Powell. His father, a poor itinerant preacher, had emigrated to the U.S. from Shrewsbury, England, in 1831. His family moved westward to Jackson, Ohio, then Walworth County, Wisconsin, before settling in rural Boone County, Illinois. As a young man, John Powell undertook a series of adventures through the Mississippi River valley. In 1855, he spent four months walking across Wisconsin.

130 Years Ago September 26, 1896 Fair notes: The fair closed last Friday night. The weather has been fine every day. Some of the races caused great excitement and when it was announced that Sherbert had broken the track record in the free-for-all trot the lovers of fast horseflesh cheered tremendously. The time was 2:22. Mrs. Martha Powell, while standing at the entrance of the Presbyterian booth had the misfortune to have her pocket picked. The thief got a snug sum, includin

Since the Romans, more than 2,000 years ago, towns have struggled with how to dispose of residential waste. Fairbury faced the same struggles after it was founded in 1857, when the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad laid tracks from Peoria to the Indiana border. The fascinating story of the Fairbury city dumps includes abandoned coal mines, the discovery of a dead infant's body, a boy who saved a dog's life, and the conversion of a former city dump into the beautiful Timber Ridge subd

About 10,000 years ago, the glaciers covering Illinois melted and disappeared. The good news is that the glaciers left behind some of the flattest and most productive farmland on the planet. The bad news is that this flat prairie had very poor natural drainage. Before extensive drainage tile was installed in the late 1800s, much of the land around Fairbury was wet and swampy. The clay tile installed beneath the farmland drained water into ditches that eventually emptied int

Street work in downtown Fairbury shown Wednesday evening. A recent audit for the City of Fairbury was described as being “very positive.” Renee Brucker of MCK CPAs and Advisors presented the 2025-2026 audit findings to the Fairbury City Council Wednesday evening, which the group later approved. A clean opinion was issued on the financial statements. Total liabilities decreased due to payments made on debt while not incurring any new debt. Revenues in the library fund were dow

Many Fairbury citizens are familiar with the large Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. This former base was named after Octave Chanute (1832-1910). Mr. Chanute also played a key role in the founding of Fairbury in 1857. Octave Chanute was born in Paris, France, in 1832. His parents were Joseph and Elise Chanut. His father was a professor at the Collège de France. The family emigrated to the United States of America in 1838, when Joseph Chanut was named vice preside

Many small museums and historical groups, including here in Fairbury, face the same nagging question: where do we safely store our most valuable scanned documents and photos so they will still be around decades from now? When the only copies live on a small local website or on someone's personal computer, the long-term risks are surprisingly high. If the key volunteer who runs a website dies or moves away, nobody may know the passwords or how to maintain the site. Sometimes

Fairbury’s Aug. 26 blood drive, held at the First United Methodist Church, collected 64 units. Michelle Baez of Fairbury was a first-time donor. Others reaching milestones were Steve Carey, Fairbury, one gallon; Samantha Palen, Forrest, four gallons; James Stein, Fairbury, five gallons; Cary Dehm, Chatsworth, 14 gallons; and Pete Walter, Fairbury, 18 gallons. Also donating were Michael Palen, Jeff Ifft, Leslie Slagel, Amy Kostesich, Lori Leman, John Krueger, Bethany Brucker,

130 Years Ago August 29, 1896 The twentieth annual fair of the Fairbury Union Agricultural Board will take place September 21 to 25. This year there are to be two political days upon which the crowd will be addressed by prominent speakers. On Wednesday the republicans will predominate, and Thursday will be Democratic Day. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Merit and children started overland Wednesday by team and buggy for a visit with friends and relatives at Minonk. Mrs. L. B. Dominy, Mr

Chief Edwards, right, administers the oath of office to new police officers in Fairbury Wednesday night. New police officers were sworn-in during Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Fairbury City Council. The three officers are Johnannes Steber, Ethan Murray and Richard Longstreth. Fairbury Police Chief Chris Edwards said they are at full staff now with the hires. The chief also revealed he was accepted into an orientation course for police chiefs at Peoria, which is an intens

The first settlers in this area built rough log cabins, but as soon as sawmills and railroads made lumber available, they quickly switched to wood-frame houses. One of the fastest ways to build a two-story farmhouse was balloon framing, yet a small fire in the basement or on the first floor could race up the walls and destroy the entire house in a frighteningly short time. The first white settlers in what became Livingston County were Valentine and Rachel Darnall, who arrive

PC Superintendent Brian Quam addresses the Fairbury Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon. A damaged gym roof and buckling floors are no more for Prairie Central Junior High School in Forrest thanks to extensive work over the past several months. The gym roof was damaged by severe weather late last year which led to gym improvements. The floor was ripped out – which took over 200 saw blades. New LED lights were installed, the sound system replaced and new scoreboards purchased. Then

A design for the future East Park, image via Farnsworth/City of Fairbury. Ideas were shared for a new park during a public hearing held Wednesday prior to the regular Fairbury City Council meeting. The East Park would be located near the wastewater treatment plant and high school practice fields. The seven-acre area is located by the current walking trail as the city acquired the land earlier this year. A current Farnsworth Group proposal includes features such as a dog park,

Fine Arts Cora Bachtold, 1 third, 1 fourth; Hazel Bachtold, 1 fourth; Rosalee Bachtold, 1 third; Wren Bachtold, 1 second, 1 third; Jackson Bahler, 1 fourth; Lane Bahler, 1 first, 1 second; Maxwell Blackwell, 1 second; Ronan Bogart, 1 third; Gerald Brandt, 1 first, 2 seconds; Roger Brown, 1 second; Isaac Burke, 1 second; Katie Burke, 1 first, 1 third; Lincoln Burke, 1 third; Ian Campbell, 1 first, 2 seconds, 1 third, 1 fourth; Kaislee Casson, 1 second, 1 third; Kasen Casson, 2

Today, most visitors travel to the Fairbury Fair by automobile, but in the early years, the journey to Fairbury was very different. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, thousands of people traveled to the Fairbury Fair by railroad. Special excursion trains brought visitors from surrounding towns and farming communities, making the fair one of the largest annual gatherings in the area. The first Fairbury Fair was held in 1876, at a time when railroads were rap

For many years, the Fairbury Fair has been known for its livestock shows, horse racing, and agricultural exhibits. However, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fairgoers were also treated to a wide variety of unusual and sometimes daring entertainment acts. Some of these performances were so spectacular that they drew thousands of people to Fairbury. One of the most remarkable attractions ever presented at the Fairbury Fair occurred in 1899. That year, crow

Several ghost towns once existed in the Fairbury area. The histories of Avoca, Champlin, Lodemia, Potosi Corner, and Rosealthe are fairly well understood. Cassville, however, remains a mystery. The first mention of the existence of a Cassville, Illinois, is the April 29, 1915, obituary of Civil War veteran George Washington Sutton. This obituary states that he spent his childhood in Cassville, Illinois, from 1846 to 1861. Further genealogical research indicates that whoev

The Fairbury police chief told members of the Fairbury City Council Wednesday evening that the recent Prairie Dirt Classic race weekend went well. Chief Chris Edwards reported no law enforcement-related issues with out-of-town visitors. “Overall, it went smooth for us,” Edwards said. Alderman Jim Tipton asked if it was possible to allow golf carts to travel out to Kilgus Farmstead during PDC week on First Street. The road changes to county control around the grain bin area, a