HR0484 LRB094 12483 CSA 46968 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, In 1904, mining experts from the St. Paul Coal
3 Company discovered a vast vein of bituminous coal in eastern
4 Bureau County that was almost unequaled in quality, and
5 instantly began to sink the State's largest coal mine in what
6 was to become the Village of Cherry; the mine and the Village
7 were named after James Cherry, former Seatonville mayor, who
8 was the regional superintendent of mines; and
 
9     WHEREAS, In April of 1905, the Village of Cherry was
10 incorporated; by June of 1905, the St. Paul Coal Company had
11 invested $200,000 in developing the mine and the Village to
12 house its workers; and
 
13     WHEREAS, The mine company's plan for the new Village called
14 for a park, a school, a bank, and several general stores;
15 expecting Cherry to be its crowning jewel, the Chicago,
16 Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway Company built a first-class
17 railroad station two blocks from the main business district;
18 the coal company built a fifty-room hotel and fifty modern
19 model homes and sold 120 acres of land for building and
20 business purposes as the Village began to grow across the
21 prairie; and
 
22     WHEREAS, In its heyday, Cherry consisted of 125 company
23 houses and 250 private homes and had a population of over 2500;
24 and
 
25     WHEREAS, Disaster struck on November 13, 1909; hay that had
26 been brought down to feed the mules stabled in the third level
27 of the mine caught fire, and the quickly spreading fire
28 resulted in the loss of 259 lives; on November 20, twenty-one
29 men were found alive and rescued from the mine; no other miners
30 were found alive, and when fire broke out again on November 25,
31 a decision was made to seal the mine; on February 1, 1910, the

 

 

HR0484 - 2 - LRB094 12483 CSA 46968 r

1 mine was unsealed and the last of the bodies were removed; and
 
2     WHEREAS, The St. Paul Coal Company reopened the mine in the
3 latter part of 1910 and developed and worked the third vein
4 until 1927, when changes in the mining industry made the mine
5 unprofitable to operate; and
 
6     WHEREAS, After closure of the mine, the company acres were
7 sold and converted to farmland, and the population of the
8 Village dwindled and has since stabilized at approximately 500
9 people; therefore, be it
 
10     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
11 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
12 we congratulate the Village of Cherry on the occasion of its
13 100th anniversary and convey our warmest regards to its
14 residents; and be it further
 
15     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
16 presented to the Village of Cherry as an expression of our
17 esteem.