OREGON — Mt. Morris Fire Chief, sixth-generation Mounder and Historian Rob Hough IV will be the presenter for the Oregon Illinois Depot’s “Those Were The Days” program on Saturday, July 27 at 10 a.m. Hough’s presentation, “Mt. Morris of yesteryear” will look at the village of Mt. Morris from the late 1800s through the mid 1950s using photos Hough has collected through the years.
Pictured is the east side of the 100 block of South Wesley Avenue in about 1895. All of the brick structures are still standing. The building with the large overhang was the home of the Sprecher Department store for generations and then later it was Roy’s Shoes and Togs. The building just to the right with the arched top is the north building of the Idle Hour today. It was Rowland printing for a long time. Alfano’s actually started in this building and it was the first location of Messer’s (M&M) supermarket. There were no fire hydrants; the hand pump was used for fires. In 1889 the village built two 150-barrel cisterns for fire protection. You can see telegraph poles and wires. The sidewalks are wooden and the streets are dirt. You won’t want to miss Hough’s presentation about Mt. Morris’ bygone era.
For more information about this program or other programs, please contact Roger Cain 815.757.9715, Chris Martin 815.742.8471 or Otto Dick 815.440.0639.