Woodford County Man Was First in Illinois To Fulfill the Promise of the 15th Amendment
Tory Dahlhoff / WCBU In the basement of the Legacy Building in El Paso, Illinois is a small corner room with a wall of cinderblocks filling a doorway that once led to the street above. Around 125 years ago locals entered here for a shave and a chat with their barber, David Strother. Now just a dim light from a single bulb reveals the remaining frame and narrow countertop of Strother’s barber station, just enough to imagine how it once looked. When it comes to Central Illinois historical figures, El Paso, a small city just off Interstate 39 in Woodford County, is most often celebrated as ...