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HR1131 |
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LRB094 20159 HSS 57945 r |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, During the days of July 6 through 9, 2006, the |
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| city of Nokomis will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its |
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| founding in 1856; and
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| WHEREAS, In 1855, the Alton and Terre Haute Railroad rolled |
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| its first train through the prairie land around what was to |
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| become Nokomis; in 1856, P.C. Huggins and Simeon Ryder platted |
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| and laid out the town and began selling lots; the village |
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| quickly grew along the railroad tracks with the establishment |
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| of a railroad station in 1856, followed by a mercantile |
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| establishment, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, and a post office in |
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| 1857; the village was incorporated in 1867; and
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| WHEREAS, The naming of the village is credited to Mrs. |
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| Anissa Berry of Alton, who is believed to have named it Nokomis |
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| after the little Indian boy in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's |
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| poem, "Hiawatha"; and
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| WHEREAS, The early settlers were mainly farmers who found |
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| the prairie soil around the Nokomis area to be some of the |
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| richest in the world; by 1900, the population had grown to |
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| nearly 1,500 with 60 to 65 businesses; Nokomis continued to |
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| grow with the sinking of coal mines in the area, until the |
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| mines closed in the 1930s and 1950s; and
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| WHEREAS, Today the population of Nokomis is around 2,500; |
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| farming still plays an important role in the city's economy; |
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| the city boasts three beautiful parks, two grocery markets, |
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| eight to ten restaurant/fast food places, two convenience |
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| stores, two banks, a newspaper, a large grain elevator, and |
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| many other businesses; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE |
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| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that |
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