Decatur Facts
Fact 1: One of Decatur's most historically prominent citizens, Hieronymus Mueller relocated his young family to Decatur in 1857. Soon afterwards, his tinkering led him to patent the Mueller Water Tapper, the first of many inventions. With the help of his sons, Mueller patented the spark plug, water cooler radiator and variable speed transmission, and in 1895, their Mueller-Benz won the first-ever US car race. After the patriarch's death, the Mueller Company went on to develop an armor-piercing explosive shell used in WWII.
Fact 2: Legal matters? As a young, ambitious attorney-at-law, Abraham Lincoln tried a handful of cases at Decatur's old log courthouse. To commemorate his work here, a bronze statue of Lincoln was erected in front of the current courthouse in 1946.
Fact 3: Presidential matters? Abraham Lincoln delivered many of his earliest public speeches in Decatur, including a riveting one in 1856 that announced the birth of the Republican Party. During the Republican Convention of 1860, also held in Decatur, the native Illinoisan accepted his party's nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Fact 4: Appropriately located where Church Street dead-ends, Greenwood Cemetery has become legendary over the years, but not because of the famous people buried there. No, in truth, Greenwood's fame is rooted in the fact that it may be one of the most haunted places in Illinois. Among the cemetery's spookier sites are the Civil War section (which holds the remains of many Confederate POWs) and a hill known for its ghostly apparitions.
Fact 5: Is that Cadillac a good egg or a fowl ride? The chicken-car mascot of the long-time Decatur institution known as Krekel's is alive and kicking. Popular locally for burgers, fries, shakes and malts, Krekel's tends to attract the attention of out-of-towners whenever the red, white, blue and feathered Caddy shows its ... well, beak.
Fact 6: Although small by modern standards, Decatur's Millikin University (2400 students) offers well-respected programs in arts and sciences, business, the fine arts and nursing. Founded by James Millikin in 1901, the university strives to marry practical knowledge to a classic liberal arts education. This philosophy is illustrated in the student body, whose deep appreciation for the arts and whose embrace of community initiatives help make Decatur a great place in which to live.
Fact 7: "Live, from Decatur, Illinois ..." Decatur's ABC affiliate went on the air in August, 1953. Today, WAND-TV sends out its signal via Illinois' tallest (and strongest) transmitter, which allows the station a viewership of nearly 400,000 people spread across parts of 19 counties.
Fact 8: The Macon County seat is named after Commodore Stephen Decatur Jr., an American naval officer who distinguished himself during the War of 1812 but first became a national hero at Tripoli in 1803 and 1804. During one daring operation, he successfully led a nighttime mission to destroy the "Philadelphia," an American ship captured by enemy forces in Tripoli. Decatur also captured the public's attention with his famous toast: "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong."
Fact 9: On July, 14 1910, Decatur entered the aviation era when Charles F. Willard and his Model D-4 took off from a dusty race track. The city's first airport was a small field owned by Ernest Haskell, a farmer who lived just north of the city, but not until 1949 did the Decatur Municipal Airport have its first official departure. Among the dignitaries who've seen the Decatur runway are John F. Kennedy, Nelson Rockefeller, Dan Quayle and Mikhail Gorbachev.
Fact 10: It may come as a surprise, but Decatur is indirectly responsible for our Memorial Day holiday. The story goes like this: On April 6, 1866, Benjamin F. Stephenson founded an organization in Decatur known as the Grand Army of the Republic, whose membership was restricted to Civil War veterans honorably discharged from the Union side. In 1868, Gen. John Logan of the Grand Army designated May 30 as a day to remember those who'd fallen during the Civil War. Later, the holiday was changed to honor American soldiers who had died fighting in any war.
