Pickings from PIke’s Past: 10 YEARS AGO: PRINCE PIG RETURNS TO PIG DAYS!

By Editor | July 12, 2022 |

150 Years Ago
July 27, 1872
Professor Richter has organized a band, which he proposes to make the best ever in Pittsfield. He has secured the instruments of the New Hartford band for the purpose.
A night blooming cereus has been performing in Griggsville and a large number have attended to see it.

125 Years ago
July 20, 1897
Farmers in Martinsburg Township are through plowing corn, and wheat threshing has begun. Haying and oats cutting will be closed up this week, and some expect to commence plowing for wheat.
Work commenced last week on the new school house in the Pursley district of Derry Township.
The Illinois Valley Fair will commence August 3, and will be bigger, better and more entertaining than ever.
Last night the streets of Pittsfield were thronged with wheelmen, wheelwomen and “little bits of kids” who formed a procession at dark and paraded around the square, executing many maneuvers. There were 79 wheels in line by actual count.
It is reported and so understood that Fishell Opera House is to be greatly enlarged and have a new roof, floor, etc., to be occupied by Company A, Illinois National Guard, as soon as the lease of armory in the Bush block expires.
The doctors and dentists have accepted the challenge of the lawyers and the hottest ball game of the season is booked for Friday.

100 Years Ago
July 19, 1922
Blackberries and peaches are abundant in the county, but vegetable gardens are suffering from the hot, dry weather. The apple crop is estimated at about 60 percent of normal.
Pittsfield’s three factories, the Elgin Turning Works, the Brunmill factory and the International Shoe factory are all running on schedule again after two-week close-downs, during which machinery was put in order.
The two miles of hard road in Newburg Township have now been widened from 10 feet to 18 feet. It looks now like Pittsfield and Jacksonville might be connected by a hard road during the early part of next year.
More than 2000 persons were in Meredosia Wednesday to attend the formal opening of the Wabash wagon and automobile bridge across the Illinois River there. Quincy on the west is now connected by a good highway with Danville on the east.
An invitation has been extended to the Christian churches of Nebo, Independence, Pleasant Hill and Pearl to meet at Nebo the fourth Sunday in July for an all-day meeting and basket dinner. Bro. B. G. Reavis and other speakers will be present.

75 Years Ago
July 16, 1947
Construction of a new generating plant on the Dean Sneeden land north of Pittsfield is expected to be started soon by the Illinois Rural Electric Co. They have taken an option on ten or possibly twelve acres of land, east of Mr. Sneeden’s house, adjoining the Wabash Railroad.
About 10 o’clock Saturday morning at the Bristow Café in Detroit a pressure cooker exploded, causing a lot of damage. It blew the lid through the canopy of the stove, through the ceiling and through the roof, tearing off shingles. Fortunately, Mrs. Bristow, of Milton, had just walked away from the cooker and was unhurt.
The Mississippi Christian Service Camp will be held July 28 to Aug. 2 at the Lions Club camp seven miles south of Pleasant Hill in “Wildcat Hollow.” There is one large dormitory used for the girls and for the kitchen and the boys are quartered in a large tent. Hensel Eason of Milton is dean of the camp and Joe Maynard and Don Newlin are teachers. Howard Goff will be in charge of the music.
A truckload of the new style “roll-up” hay bales that stopped in Pittsfield attracted a lot of attention the other day. The new style baler rolls up the bales like a rag carpet and kicks it out at weights of 60 pounds and up.

50 Years Ago
July 19, 1972
Don Irving, the “old pro of Pike County politics,” returned from the Democratic national convention in Miami. He said, “The same thing has been true of every Illinois election for the last 40 years. People vote against, rather than for. There have been more men elected governor in Illinois with ‘anti’ votes than ‘for’ votes.”
Governor Richard Ogilvie attended the Illinois Rural Electric Company’s annual meeting in Winchester. Miss Diane Birch of Griggsville was selected “Miss Illinois Rural Electric Co. of 1972.” She is pictured with Virgil T. Parks of Milton, president of the IREC.
The highlight of a busy Pig Day was the presentation of “The Landing of the First Pigs in America.” The comedy skit was written by Jon Robb and presented by PHS Thespian players.
Mr. and Mrs. Foreman Fields of Pittsfield will be honored by their three daughters at a reception Sunday, July 30, honoring the couple’s 40th wedding anniversary. The daughters, Mrs. Gail Chamberlain, Mrs. Robert Lemons, and Mrs. Donald Lee Smith, are inviting friends and relatives to attend.
Eleven weddings and two engagements filled the “Social Scene” pages of the July 19, 1972 Pike Press, including the July 1st wedding of Miss Jeanie Slayden, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William R. Slayden of Pittsfield and Ted Hartman, son of Mr. and Mrs. William H. Hartman of Baylis at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
Twenty-two girls are candidates for the title of Miss Pike County Fair. They will appear in ceremonies at the Fairgrounds Saturday in Pleasant Hill.

25 Years Ago
July 16, 1997
The city of Pittsfield is looking at a new $1 million water tower, but apparently only if they can get a state grant to help pay for it. The two possible sites are next to the present 150,000 water tower near the senior citizen’s center or at the corner of Benson and Memorial streets.
Cargill at Florence is in the middle of upgrading its existing elevator facility that will more than double its grain processing capacity. It may soon become the busiest elevator on the Illinois River.
Captain Craig Rush and his wife Lisa of Pensacola, Florida, are parents of a daughter born June 29. The daughter’s name is Lindsey Michele and she has a sister, Marie, who is 15 months old.
R. L. Harp, 80, of Pittsfield, formerly of Macomb, died Thursday, July 10 at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield. He was a son of the late Ralph Leonard and Veda Morrow Harp. He married Justine Grigsby in 1938 and she survives. R. L. was a graduate of Pittsfield High School and a veteran of World War II. For several years he was employed at his father’s 5 and 10 cent store in Pittsfield.

10 Years Ago
July 18, 2012
By the end of this week Pike County could be listed as an “extreme drought” county after the U. S. Department of Agriculture reveals classification statuses Thursday. The current status is “severe drought.”
Prince Pig, a metal sculpture, designed by Harry Wright and created by Keith Elledge and Rick Lippincott, has been missing for years, but Friday night he was back in all his colorful glory at Pig Days.
According to a press release from the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Florence Bridge is expected to be out of commission for nine months.
Bailey Henderson, daughter of Tom and Nancy Henderson of Pittsfield, was crowned Miss Pike County Fair in Pleasant Hill.

■ Compiled by Michael Boren