“This Week in Galesburg History,” there is a famous house in the news, Joe Morrissey shares some local sports stories, and Harley Knosher wins a championship.
This is a look back at the history of Galesburg (and the world). What was going on 100 years ago, 75 years ago, 50 years ago, 25 years ago, and 10 years ago this week?
“This Week in Galesburg History” appears each Monday on the WGIL website and Massey Basketball Blog.
100 Years Ago- 1926
Grace Mills Carr had passed away, and her will was being probated. Grace Carr was the widow of Clark Carr. Clark Carr was one of the most famous Galesburg residents of the 19th century. At different times, he had been Galesburg’s Postmaster, owner of the local gas company, and owner of the local paper and its editor.
Clark Carr was not just famous in Galesburg but also on the national stage as a statesman, author, and diplomat.
Today, most Galesburg residents still think of his home at 560 North Prairie St. as the “Carr House.” The Carr House is a huge mansion built by Mr. Carr in 1894 with 6 bedrooms and two bathrooms, and a third floor ball room for entertaining.
Mr. and Mrs. Carr did indeed entertain. They hosted President US Grant and President William McKinley in their home. Some claim McKinley may have held a cabinet meeting in the Carr House.
In the 1890’s, the paper boy who delivered the local newspaper to the Carr House was none other than Carl Sandburg.
In the probate action, widow Clark’s estate is estimated to be $24,000 in personal property and the Carr House valued at $46,000. I am guessing $46,000 in 1926 would have been a huge amount of money. Consider that the average income in 1926 was $2,000.
75 Years Ago- 1951
Daredevil William “Red” Hill planned to ride a barrel of tire tubes over Niagara Falls. The year before he had attempted to ride a wooden barrel over the falls. When the barrel got wedged against rocks, Hill got out. The barrel then went over the Falls and smashed into pieces when it hit the rocks at the bottom. There was no doubt he would have been killed in the wooden barrel.
I have been unable to find results of his attempt. It would appear that while he may not have ridden the tire tubes down, he was famous for rescuing people from the Falls and retrieving bodies that had accidents.
50 Years Ago- 1976
Legendary Sports Editor, Joe Morrissey had his special column- On the Rebound. In his column he covered for decades local sports stories.
In this edition, he writes about one of Galesburg’s greatest runners, Randy Icenogle. Icenogle had received Academic All-State honors as a runner at Illinois State. While at Illinois State, he set school records for 880, mile, 1000, and 5 miles. He also was selected the schools Most Valuable 3x Cross Country and 2x Track.
Mark Thiel, who had been selected by the Yankees in the MLB draft after a great career at the University of Missouri was playing in the Class A Pennsylvania League. Thiel was 6th in the league while hitting .322.
Former Streaks basketball player, Ed White had been hired at Rockridge as Athletic Director. To give the Rockets a real Streaks flavor, Frank Dexter was the basketball coach.
25 Years Ago- 2001
When Galesburg people hear the name of Harley Knosher, they are most likely to think of Knosher as the Knox basketball coach and AD. In the Summer of 2001, it was Coach Knosher piloting the Little League Phillies to a championship.
Among the other stars on the Phillies were some future Silver Streak athletes in Chris Fields, Marissa Vinson, Chad Thompson, and Jessica Howard.
10 Years Ago- 2016
A storm had created water damage that required replacing the Thiel Gym floor. After the architects and construction people looked at the project, it was decided that while doing the floor replacement it made sense to replace outdated bleachers.
The cost of the bleachers would be $420,000 and the floor would be $240,000. The floor would be covered by insurance.
The old bleachers had flaws which caused them to gouge the floor everytime they went in and out.
The new bleachers were to meet ADA requirements meant that seats would be lost with more and wider aisles. The bleachers on the North side were all designed to create more space for the teams. As a result of the new bleachers, the seating capacity was just little over 2,000. Originally the gym capacity in 1959 had been about 3,600.
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