"EYE SPY"

Eye Spy, Week Four
Chestnut - the geographical center of Illinois

 

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[August 27, 2020]    The answer to this week’s Eye Spy is the Geographical Center of Illinois – Chestnut, located on Illinois State Route 54 between Mount Pulaski and Clinton.  Still in Logan County, the small town is less than a 30-minute drive from Lincoln.  It is a quiet place where friends can gather for an afternoon or come in the morning, grab a lunch to go at the Chestnut Family Restaurant, and enjoy the meal in the park.

 


The center was officially designated in 1992 and the monument in the small town park was dedicated on June 13th, 1993. 

 

The story of how this all came to be was well documented in December of 1992 by the Chicago tribune.  It began with a young man from Pekin who was hoping to make his claim to fame as a tourism consultant.  Gary Calvert used fishing line and a map to determine where he believed it would be the center of the state.  He then submitted a request to the Illinois State Geological Survey for confirmation of his theory. 

 

Calvert was thrilled when he learned that his crude calculation had landed him only slightly off the mark.  The real center of the state is about a mile outside of town, but that was close enough for the residents of Chestnut and hope sprang as they imagined building a marketing program for their community based on this one claim to fame.

 

As a part of the monument, there are hundreds of bricks in the walkway leading to and around the monument.  These names are there for a number of reasons.  The first and perhaps most notable as it pertains to the center of the state are the bricks that document the dedication of the monument. 

 

Among those who were a part of the dedication were the renowned Charles Kuralt who offered a series “On the road with Charles Kuralt” on the CBS Sunday news with Walter Cronkite. 

 

One of the clues for this game made note that an optional choice for the eagle atop the statue could have been a chicken.  That is because prior to gaining notoriety as the center of the state, the community was the proud home of a large chicken farm.

 

Folks in Chestnut were proud of the farm and the chickens.  So much so that there were signs posted along the highway for motorists to beware of the chicken crossing the road, because it could be a “Chestnut Chicken.”

 

Another interesting tidbit about the eagle is that it was not on the original statue.  According to Rebecca Drake of Chestnut, when the statue was unveiled in 1993 it was simply a cylinder.  While proud of its significance, the community was not pleased with the statue.  Many felt that it looked unfinished.  Drake said she personally drove to Peoria and purchased the concrete eagle to go on top of the cylinder.  After that, the community was much happier with their special monument.

 

On each corner of the monument are plaques mounted in the concrete showing which direction one is facing when standing at that point.  For some, including the reporter who visited the monument for eye spy those corners may be a bit baffling.  Why, because north just doesn’t “feel like north” when in the small town.

 

And, the little park also offers recognition for members of the local Boy Scout Troop.  Though not dated, the monument is a memorial to four “leaders and Scouts of Boy Scout Troop 125 of Chestnut,” Jesse Malone, William Hein, Douglas Beaver and Gregory Leimbagh.

 

And, the comfortable wooden benches facing the monument were the 2014 Eagle Scout project of Zach Fanning. 

 

Chestnut is a great little community.  It is quiet and clean and easy to take in with only a little time invested.  At the same time, the little park that is home to the center of the state monument is a great place to play.  Pack a Frisbee and get some exercise after lunch!

 

Related story
Chicago Tribune – December 25, 1992
CHESTNUT-HEART OF THE HEARTLAND

Find more details here:  Come play “Eye Spy” with Lincoln Daily News

 

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