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91_HR0806
LRB9113828CBcbB
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, It has come to the attention of this Body that
3 the City of Jacksonville is celebrating its
4 terquasquicentennial this year; and
5 WHEREAS, As one of the State's oldest cities,
6 Jacksonville has served as an example of good government and
7 civic pride since its founding and has provided leadership in
8 many areas; and
9 WHEREAS, In the City Council Chambers at the Municipal
10 Building, a celebration was held in honor of the anniversary;
11 a song, "Jacksonville", a song written for the town's
12 centennial in 1925, was performed; pictures taking a look at
13 Illinois and MacMurray Colleges, streetcars of the early
14 1900s, and the Northern Cross Railroad, which once linked
15 Jacksonville and Meredosia were presented in a slide show; an
16 official parade will take place on September 2, 2000; and
17 WHEREAS, In 1829, Illinois College was founded by John
18 Ellis and a group of Congregational-Presbyterian missionaries
19 called the "Yale Band"; Beecher Hall, erected in 1829, was
20 the first college building built in Illinois; and
21 WHEREAS, Three State institutions for the care of the
22 handicapped were located in Jacksonville; the Illinois School
23 for the Deaf was chartered in 1839 and began classes in 1845,
24 the Illinois School for the Visually Impaired began as a
25 private school in 1847 and was turned into a public
26 institution in 1848, and the Jacksonville Mental Health and
27 Developmental Center was authorized a charter in 1847; and
28 WHEREAS, In 1840, an Illinois College graduate and
29 Jacksonville teacher, Newton Bateman, organized the first
30 free public school in Illinois and later became president of
31 Knox College in Galesburg; and
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1 WHEREAS, In 1900, William E. Sullivan began manufacturing
2 Ferris wheels in Jacksonville and set his first model in
3 operation on the public square; now in its third generation
4 in business, Sullivan's organization, the Eli Bridge Company,
5 is the oldest firm in the country making Ferris wheels as a
6 stock item; and
7 WHEREAS, In the years since its settlement, Jacksonville
8 has seen the coming of electricity, telephones, automobiles,
9 tractors, fire trucks, and water and gas systems; it has
10 faced wars and rationing, and has welcomed peacetime and its
11 returning soldiers; and
12 WHEREAS, The residents of Jacksonville are proud of its
13 history and its contribution to the culture of the State of
14 Illinois; and
15 WHEREAS, Jacksonville faces the 21st century with dreams
16 of blending future growth with a preservation of the past;
17 therefore, be it
18 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
19 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
20 we congratulate the residents of the City of Jacksonville on
21 its 175th anniversary and extend our best wishes for future
22 success and growth; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
24 presented to Mayor Ron Tendick.