HR1132 LRB094 20158 HSS 57944 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The City of Pana will celebrate its
3 sesquicentennial with special events scheduled throughout
4 2006; Pana was incorporated in 1856; and
 
5     WHEREAS, For 150 years, Proud Pana, the city that moved
6 from the prairie to the crossroads of four railroads, has been
7 in the center of Illinois where the Union Pacific Railroad and
8 Illinois Routes 29 and 16 meet U.S. 51; during its history,
9 Pana became famous for coal, roses, corn, basketball, and
10 tremendous civic pride; and
 
11     WHEREAS, The City of Pana, population 5,614, is located in
12 the southeast corner of Christian County; in January of 1855, a
13 surveyor for the Illinois Central Railroad recorded a plat in
14 Stone Coal Precinct, Coal Creek Township, for their rail bed
15 and marked Pana on his survey at a point where the Illinois
16 Central rail intersected the rail of the Indianapolis & St.
17 Louis Railroad, later the New York Central Railroad; and
 
18     WHEREAS, On September 2, 1856, Coal Creek Township was
19 renamed Pana Township, possibly as a credit to the Pawnee/Pana
20 Indians who hunted the prairie in the area; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Late in 1856, a charter was submitted to the
22 Illinois legislature to create the City of Pana, population
23 850, with 68 houses and one Presbyterian Church; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Names of notoriety of Pana's first century
25 residents include Civil War Captain and Mrs. John W. (Little)
26 Kitchell, sculptor Leonard Crunell, All-American sportsman
27 A.J. "Butch" Nowack, journalist and author James Vincent
28 Sheean, artist John Zwinak, violinist Florian Zabach, and many
29 more; and
 

 

 

HR1132 - 2 - LRB094 20158 HSS 57944 r

1     WHEREAS, The Pana community shares central Illinois with
2 great neighbors in Assumption, Oconee, Rosamond, and Tower
3 Hill; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Today Pana is home to Anderson Prairie,
5 Carnegie-Schuyler Library, the Christian County Housing
6 Authority, Coal Creek Pioneer Village, Historic Kitchell Park,
7 Lake Pana, the Lincoln Prairie Bike and Hike Trail, over a
8 dozen murals, Oak Terrace Resort, the Old Railroad Switch
9 Tower, Pana Community Hospital, Pana Heritage Day, Pana
10 Industrial Park, the Pana Labor Day Parade, the Pana Panthers,
11 Pana School Unit 8, nearby Rosamond Grove Cemetery, - 18 foot
12 Lincoln Statue - Mary Lincoln Cannon, Roseland Theater, Tanner
13 Sports Park, the Tri-County Fair, 20 Churches, 37
14 clubs/organizations, and a multitude of great businesses that
15 serve the community; Pana is also known as the western gateway
16 to Lake Shelbyville, and Pana has strong ties to Shelbyville,
17 Nokomis, Taylorville, Herrick, Springfield, and Decatur, as
18 well as Ramsey and Vandalia; and
 
19     WHEREAS, Several activities during the year long
20 sesquicentennial celebration are being planned, many being
21 planned to take place at the well-known Kitchell Park in the
22 historic Chatuaqua Pavilion; therefore, be it
 
23     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
24 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
25 that we congratulate the City of Pana on the occasion of its
26 sesquicentennial celebration; and be it further
 
27     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
28 presented to the City of Pana as an expression of our esteem.