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Built first structure in what became downtown Kewanee

Columnist Dean Karau traces Kewanee – In the Beginning . . . DEAN KARAU What was Kewanee like in its first year? Let’s take a look. But first, for a frame of reference, let’s revisit Wethersfield prior to the founding of Kewanee.  Wethersfield’s growth was stunted by the Financial Panic of 1837, which lasted through much of the 1840s. By the early 1850s, Wethersfield had only a dozen or so businesses operating in the village. It’s population hovered around 400, but most lived on farms outside of the village. What later became Kewanee Township had another 400 or so similarly living ...

Local history columnist Dean Karau revisits a time when Kewanee, Wethersfield shared a school Star Courier Soon after the founding of the Wethersfield Colony in 1837, the settlers built a small hewn-log meeting house on the northeast corner of Tenney and Church Streets. In 1839, the Colony opened the first school with a single teacher in the meeting house. Early teachers included Miss Stewart, Miss Dorr, Mr. Keeler, and C. C. Blish.  The seats were slabs four to eight feet long, with legs made of wooden pins driven into augur holes, and no backs to the seats. Younger students sat on the seat...