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093_HR0394
LRB093 11945 HSS 17110 r
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of
3 the State of Illinois wish to congratulate the City of
4 Litchfield on the occasion of its 150th anniversary; and
5 WHEREAS, Litchfield was planned to be called Huntsville
6 after the chief engineer for the Terre Haute and Alton
7 Railroad, around which the plans for the town were based;
8 upon hearing of the plans for the new railroad, Electus
9 Bachus Litchfield came to the area, procured the right of way
10 for the railroad, bought the company that was organizing the
11 town, and thus became the community's namesake; and
12 WHEREAS, Early Litchfield government consisted of a board
13 of trustees with E.C. Dix as the first president of that
14 board; Litchfield established a charter, which was approved
15 by both houses of the legislature and signed by Governor
16 William H. Bissell on February 16, 1859; William E. Bacon
17 became the first mayor of Litchfield in 1859; and
18 WHEREAS, The first City Hall in Litchfield was built in
19 1865 at a cost of $5,000; after receiving the municipal
20 charter in 1859, the free school was established in
21 Litchfield and a graded school system was established in
22 1860; in 1865, the town voted to build its first high school,
23 and in 1899, the school received accreditation by the
24 University of Illinois; and
25 WHEREAS, Church life is rich in Litchfield; in 1953,
26 there were 17 congregations; the oldest congregation in
27 Litchfield is the English Lutheran Church, which was founded
28 in 1852; and
29 WHEREAS, The town constructed its first sidewalk in 1859
30 and the first street paving was on Union Avenue in the early
31 to mid-1930s by the Works Progress Administration; Litchfield
-2- LRB093 11945 HSS 17110 r
1 established a tax levy to fund a library in 1872; the library
2 opened 10 years later; in 1905, the Litchfield Carnegie
3 Public Library, constructed with funds provided by Andrew
4 Carnegie, was opened; and
5 WHEREAS, The Litchfield Municipal Airport was established
6 in 1945 and dedicated in 1953; the city is served by St.
7 Francis Hospital, for which a grand opening was held in 1971;
8 the Litchfield Community and Senior Citizens Center was begun
9 in 1972; and
10 WHEREAS, Litchfield is currently home to many businesses,
11 churches, and citizens of the State of Illinois; therefore,
12 be it
13 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15 we congratulate the City of Litchfield on the occasion of its
16 150th anniversary; and be it further
17 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to the City of Litchfield as an expression of our
19 respect and esteem.
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