Heritage Herald

“RETURN VISIT” ARRIVES IN WASHINGTON

ave you seen it yet? On November 17, the Washington Historical

Society was pleased to bring Seward Johnson’s amazing sculpture,

“Return Visit” to Washington. This monumental-scale sculpture (30

feet tall) is the enlarged version of Johnson’s original work of art commis-

sioned for Gettysburg Plaza in Pennsylvania. This life-scale sculpture stands

near the historic Wills House in Gettysburg and depicts President Lincoln

pointing to the bedroom in the Wills House where he nished writing the

Gettysburg Address before delivering the speech at the dedication of The

Soldiers National Cemetery on November 19, 1863.

Sculptor Seward Johnson noted: “President Lincoln’s character and ac-

complishments are imprinted forever on the nation he loved and served so

well. He has been a hero to millions of people and certainly has inspired me

throughout my life.”

The Washington Historical Society, in collaboration with private donors, has

brought the 30-foot statue of Abraham Lincoln to Washington where it will

be on display until November 2021. The statue has been installed on proper-

ty between Five Points and the Fire Station. “Return Visit” has most recently

been on display in front of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and

Museum in Springeld, Illinois, and has previously been on display at the

Peoria Riverfront Museum.

The bronze sculpture is a wonderful tie-in to Washington’s history with

Abraham Lincoln.

“Return Visit” is likely the largest bronze sculpture ever to go on display in

Central Illinois. It was completed by world-renowned sculpture, Seward John-

son, in 2014. Seward Johnson was a prominent sculptor for more than fty

years executing some of the most iconic and largest sculptures today. One of the heirs to the Johnson & Johnson fortune,

Seward died last year just before his 90th birthday. Central Illinoisans may remember seeing another of his iconic works,

one based on Grant Woods’ American Gothic painting entitled “God Bless America” which was previously on display at the

Peoria Riverfront Museum. The Washington Historical Society has “Return Visit” on loan from The Seward Johnson Ate-

lier, Inc., which was incorporated to promote the appreciation of, and education about, sculpture and public art in general,

primarily through the creation, maintenance, sales and public placement of Seward Johnson’s artwork.

PO Box 54, Washington, IL

(309) 444-4793

MURAL CARDS DECEMBER 1950

Heritage Herald

www.washingtonilhs.com December 2020

For information about the artist see

www.sewardjohnsonatelier.org.

BEHIND THE MURAL:

NOEL WEBER

USE MURAL FOR YOUR CHRISTMAS CARDS

f you’re like me and you

still haven’t gured out what

you are going to do for your

Christmas cards this year, why

not consider using our beautiful

new mural as the background for

your photo? If you position your-

selves and the photographer just

right, you can block out the Hand-

icapped Parking signs and all you

will see is you and the gorgeous

mural! What

better way to

show off Wash-

ington Pride to

your friends

and family!

THE WASHINGTON BUSINESS LANDSCAPE

COULD HAVE LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT

n 1954, the Conoco Oil Company

leased a property at the corner of

South Market and Peoria Streets for

the construction of a gas station. Most

likely the plans were to raze the house

on the southwest corner of the intersec-

tion. This never materialized and the

house at 100 South Market Street, built

in 1893, survives to this day.

In August 1950 the Federal Govern-

ment purchased the lot at the northeast

corner of Wood and Peoria Streets, the

site of the current NAPA dealership,

with the intention of constructing a new

post ofce. Up until that point the post

ofce had been on the square. The post

ofce on Wood Street was never built

and the Government sold the land in

1954. The post ofce remained around

the square until 1962 when the cur-

rent building was built on High Street.

In 1970, Sandy’s restaurant wanted

to expand to Washington and build a

restaurant. The site they chose was 604

Peoria Street, which is midway up the

hill between the viaduct and Odea’s

Cleaners., currently residential houses,

as it was then. It seemed a curious spot

for the site of a restaurant. Opposition

from nearby residents was almost unan-

imous, and they created petitions and

collected piles of evidence against the

construction of the restaurant. Mayor

Robert Hult at the time was in support

of a zoning change to commercial, be-

cause he felt that Peoria Street suited

the town best as a commercial thor-

oughfare, and that moving towards that

as an end-goal would be in the best

interest of Washington. In the end, the

zoning change was defeated by the city

council 5-2, and Sandy’s relocated its

new restaurant to the southwest corner

of Wilmor and Peoria Streets, and with-

in two years had changed their name

to Hardee’s. Had the zoning been im-

proved, the hill on Peoria Street might

be all businesses today.

In 1975, Pizza Hut approached the town

about constructing a new restaurant. The

site they chose was the southwest cor-

ner of Hillcrest and Washington Roads,

the site of the current Washington Med-

ical Center. This desire by the company

led to a urry of opposition by residents

on Hillcrest Drive, who did not want a

beer-serving Pizza Hut in their neigh-

borhood. As a result of the opposition

Pizza Hut voluntarily scrapped plans

for the site and found a new site at the

corner of Wilmor and Peoria Streets,

the site of the current CVS Pharmacy, a

spot where it thrived for over 25 years

until moving to its current location in

2002.

Longtime board member Linda Nieukirk and husband Bob pose for their

annual Christmas card. Photo courtesy of Burk Photography.

December 2020 WASHINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

ADD THE GIFT OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO YOUR CHRISTMAS LIST

o you have someone on your Christmas list who is

always difcult to buy for? How about giving them

the gift of membership in the Washington Histori-

cal Society? Anyone who loves Washington or cares about

preserving and promoting local history would certainly ap-

preciate receiving our quarterly newsletters and staying in

touch with the happenings in Washington. They will receive

the benet of staying in touch with their community and

knowing they are supporting a worthwhile local organiza-

tion at the same time.

While we don’t normally begin accepting dues until after

January 1, this year, we will apply any memberships received

after December 1, 2020 to your or your gift recipient’s 2021

dues. As a token of our thanks, anyone who purchases a gift

membership for a new member this year, or who becomes a

new Lifetime Member, will receive a packet of 10 notecards

that feature our Walldogs mural.

Name_____________________________________________

Address___________________________________________

City________________________ State_____ Zip_________

Email________________________ Phone_______________

Choose your membership level:

 mStudent/ Free mSingle/ $30 mFamily/ $45

 mBusiness/ $75 mGolden/ $150 mLifetime/ $400

Employee Matching: ____________________________________________

(employer name & address) ____________________________________________

Name_____________________________________________

Address___________________________________________

City________________________ State_____ Zip_________

Email________________________ Phone_______________

Choose their membership level:

 mStudent/ Free mSingle/ $30 mFamily/ $45

 mBusiness/ $75 mGolden/ $150 mLifetime/ $400

Mail check to: WHS, P.O. Box 54, Washington, IL 61571 or visit: https://washingtonilhs.com/membership-3/

2020 Membership- Washington Historical Society Please send a gift membership to:

MERCHANDISE

ooking for that perfect gift for someone on

your list this year? The Washington Histor-

ical Society is here to help! We have note-

cards, Christmas ornaments, and mugs that each

feature parts of the Walldogs mural. The items are

available at Dene the Home on the Washington

square, or you can send an order and check for

your items, plus $5 shipping, to the Washington

Historical Society, PO Box 54, Washington, IL

61571. All proceeds benet the Washington His-

torical Society.

Pack of 10 notecards:

$10.00

Washington mug:

$10.00

Christmas ornament:

$12.00

December 2020 WASHINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

BEHIND THE MURAL: WHO IS THE ARTIST

THAT CREATED OUR “WASHINGTON 1825” ARTWORK?

f you weren’t able to attend our mem-

ber lunch while the Walldogs were in

town, you may have missed some of

the technical explanation of just how the

mural was created. The artists didn’t just

show up in Washington and start painting;

much of the design of the mural and the

3-D elements were

created in the months

before the actual painting began. That is

especially true of the beautiful “Washing-

ton 1825” lettering. That beautiful script

is completely original to our mural. It was

created by well-known lettering artist,

Noel Weber.

Noel has been designing lettering and ty-

pography and doing graphic design and

sign painting for over 45 years. He grad-

uated from Chicago’s Institute of Letter-

ing and Design in 1971 and began his ap-

prenticeship at Diamond Outdoor in Des

Plaines. A couple moves later, in the mid

1980’s he began his own design company,

Classic Design Studio in Boise, Idaho. His

client list includes Disney, Whole Foods,

the City of Boise, and hundreds of small

businesses. He is well-known for his re-

verse-glass gold leaf gilding work, pieces

of which are included in the permanent

collection at the American Sign Museum

in Cincinnati. He has received numerous

industry awards for his work, and in 2018,

was awarded the Scott Chandler Award

for Excellence in Craftsmanship from

Preservation Idaho. Noel’s commit-

ment to the preservation of crafts-

manship and his work beautifying and

promoting small towns and businesses

is certainly in line with the mission of

the Washington Historical Society. We

are proud to display his work so prom-

inently in our community.

Noel has a beautiful new book out

that features over 150 pages of pencil

sketches collected from his long sign

painting career. To learn more about

him or to see how you can purchase the

book, please go to https://noelbweber.

com/. There is also available a wonder-

ful short video featuring him and his

work at https://vimeo.com/377900857.

We are so grateful to Noel for his will-

ingness to work with the Washington

Historical Society on this project!

NO CHRISTMAS WALK?

CONSIDER MAKING A DONATION INSTEAD

re you disappointed that we had to cancel this year’s Christmas

Open House Tour? We are, too! In our efforts to do our part to help

keep everyone home and safe during this pandemic, we unfortu-

nately had to cancel the 2020 Christmas Walk. But if you have enjoyed

the tour in the past, please consider making a donation to the Washington

Historical Society in lieu of the money you would have spent on the Walk.

The WHS Board will match every dollar donated in lieu of the House

Walk up to $1,000.

This is usually our largest fundraiser of the year and we would certainly

appreciate your donations to the Society to help sustain our mission for

years to come! Every dollar helps!

December 2020 WASHINGTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Washington Community High School

Player of the Week

Dave Dingledine, 6’1” 190 lb junior for-

ward, is the Washington Panther Player

of the week for his performance against

Pontiac. Dave scored 15 points in the sec-

ond half and led the charge which put the

Panthers ahead. He followed the Pontiac

game with a 22 point effort against Chi-

cago Cooley to push his season’s average

to 19.3. “He put the ball in the hole, and

got the rebounds when we needed him.

He had three fouls during the second half

and played intelligently to avoid fouling

out,” said coach Charles Buescher.

Woman’s Club Plans Christmas Sing

The Washington Woman’s Club cho-

ral department will present its annual

Christmas program for the Club at 7:30

p.m. Tuesday, December 15, in the edu-

cational building of St. Mark’s Lutheran

Church. Mrs. Carl R. Maxwell, choral

chairman, will be in charge of the pro-

gram for the evening. Mrs. W.J. Erickson

is the choral director and Mrs. Donald

Sunderlin is the accompanist. Each mem-

ber of the club is asked to bring an orna-

ment for the tree and a present marked

for man or woman. The tree and presents

will be delivered to the nursing home in

Tremont on Wednesday morning.

Washington Community High

School News

The Washington Community High

School board of education approved

several personnel changes and the adult

education pro

gram during its meeting

Monday night. The board accepted two

resignations. Mrs. Shirley Gabrick, a

math teacher, will leave Jan. 14; and Mrs.

Lorraine Herm, a part-time art teacher,

will leave for India Dec. 23.

The Board hired Philip Sluder of Bel-

leville as a business education teacher.

Sluder is a graduate of Eastern Illinois

University and has no teaching experi-

ence. He will begin work Dec. 1.

Also hired was Mrs. Jaclyn LeFebure, a

math teacher. A graduate of the Universi-

ty of Nebraska and a former instructed at

Central high School in Omaha, Nebr., she

will begin work Jan. 15.

Applications are being accepted for the

position of part-time art teacher. Eight

courses will be offered in the high school’s

evening adult education curriculum. They

are clothing construction, child psychol-

ogy, English, driver education, physical

education for men and for women, typing

and horseback riding.