|
|
|
|
HR1131 |
|
LRB094 20159 HSS 57945 r |
|
|
| 1 |
| HOUSE RESOLUTION
|
| 2 |
| WHEREAS, During the days of July 6 through 9, 2006, the |
| 3 |
| city of Nokomis will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its |
| 4 |
| founding in 1856; and
|
| 5 |
| WHEREAS, In 1855, the Alton and Terre Haute Railroad rolled |
| 6 |
| its first train through the prairie land around what was to |
| 7 |
| become Nokomis; in 1856, P.C. Huggins and Simeon Ryder platted |
| 8 |
| and laid out the town and began selling lots; the village |
| 9 |
| quickly grew along the railroad tracks with the establishment |
| 10 |
| of a railroad station in 1856, followed by a mercantile |
| 11 |
| establishment, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, and a post office in |
| 12 |
| 1857; the village was incorporated in 1867; and
|
| 13 |
| WHEREAS, The naming of the village is credited to Mrs. |
| 14 |
| Anissa Berry of Alton, who is believed to have named it Nokomis |
| 15 |
| after the little Indian boy in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's |
| 16 |
| poem, "Hiawatha"; and
|
| 17 |
| WHEREAS, The early settlers were mainly farmers who found |
| 18 |
| the prairie soil around the Nokomis area to be some of the |
| 19 |
| richest in the world; by 1900, the population had grown to |
| 20 |
| nearly 1,500 with 60 to 65 businesses; Nokomis continued to |
| 21 |
| grow with the sinking of coal mines in the area, until the |
| 22 |
| mines closed in the 1930s and 1950s; and
|
| 23 |
| WHEREAS, Today the population of Nokomis is around 2,500; |
| 24 |
| farming still plays an important role in the city's economy; |
| 25 |
| the city boasts three beautiful parks, two grocery markets, |
| 26 |
| eight to ten restaurant/fast food places, two convenience |
| 27 |
| stores, two banks, a newspaper, a large grain elevator, and |
| 28 |
| many other businesses; therefore, be it
|
| 29 |
| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
| 30 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |