Front Cover . . . 



C^ IXTEENTH in our series of picturesque 

 and historic Illinois scenes is the bank 



s 



at Shawneetown in Gallatin county. It 

 was built by the state in 1838 as suc- 

 cessor to the first bank in Illinois which 

 was erected in 1816, just two blocks away. 

 The first bank in IlHnois was also the first 

 in the Northwest territory. It still stands. 



The 110-year-old bank is three stories high 

 and 40 feet by 60 feet. It cost in the neigh- 

 borhood of $90,000. When it was erected, 

 Shawneetown was a busy river trading center. 

 Since then the town has declined in importance 

 and the bank appears immense for the size of 

 the community. 



* • • 



The impressive Doric sandstone columns 

 fronting the bank were floated down the Ohio 

 River from Pittsburgh on a flat boat. Note 

 the dark stain on the lower half of the col- 

 ■When the Ohio River flooded the 



umns. 



town in 1937 it rose nearly halfway up the 

 columns and stained the sandstone. 



Best known tale about the bank, which may 

 be fact or fiction, is the story about representa- 

 tives of the infant city of Chicago riding on 

 horseback to the bank at Shawneetown to 

 negotiate a loan of $1,000 for the develop- 

 ment of the city. The Shawneetown bankers 

 got an independent report on Chicago and its 

 prospects and refused to make the loan. The 

 story goes that Chicago was too far from 

 Shawneetown and would never amount to any- 

 thing. ^.. . ,^,.-, ,| ,^ 



: 



GOOD RURAL ROADS 

 NO DREAM HERE 



HERB KILTZ was in the office the 

 other day and we had quite a 

 talk about the roads in his town- 

 ship in McHenry county. Herb 

 is a member of the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association road committee. 

 He has long been interested in farm- 

 to-highway roads, and loves to talk 

 about them. It was not hard for him 

 to show me why the roads are good 

 in Dorr township. 



He had some very interesting figures. 

 He said his township has good roads 

 because it has a good road commission- 



By CHARLES S. MAYFIELD, Director 



lAA Read Imprevement Deportment 



er, modern road equipment, and a road 

 income that allows full use of this 

 equipment. 



Part of the township's equipment is 

 shown in the picture. This equipment 

 together with three snow plows and 

 other miscellaneous items represent an 

 investment of over $22,000. 



Both Martin Ladefoged, township 

 road commissioner, and his brother Jim 



■ - j-l«£»^*i*=:*---i&&i 



Part of the read equipment of Dorr township in McHenry county is sliown above. Three 



snowplows and other miscellaneous equipment are not shown in this picture, left to right: 



IMartin Ladefoged, road commissioner; Herbert Kiltx, member, lAA road committee; and 



Jim Ladefoged, township road district employee. 



are expert road men. They put in full 

 time on the 48 miles of township road. 

 They are also expert mechanics and 

 take excellent care of the equipment. 

 They work the entire year. 



Their annual township road and 

 bridge money is sufficient to buy mate- 

 rials for surfacing the roads. The 

 township money comes in as follows: 



Road and Bridge Tax 4 9,000 ; 



Gravel Tax 11,000 



Blacktop bond issue tax — 13,000 



10 



Township road income ...$33,000 ; 



Herb laughed and said it would seem 

 that his township has no road problem. 

 Some folks might wonder just why the 

 lAA has appointed a committee to 

 study Illinois road problems. Then 

 Herb tapped the desk with his pencil 

 and explained what he was thinking 

 about. Here it is: 



"How many townships in Illinois 

 can afford an investment of over $22,- 

 000 for equipment.' How many can 

 hire two expert men, and pay for the 

 upkeep of equipment and road mate- 

 rials necessary to keep the men and 

 equipment busy all year? How many 

 townships in Illinois are able to spend 

 $33,000 a year on township roads? 

 Present day prices for equipment and 

 buildings to house it, will probably 

 run between $35,000 and $40,000. Road 

 materials have almost doubled in 

 price." 



Herb suggests you compare your 

 township road setup with his or check 

 it with others. If you do this, you will 

 begin to see where the road problem 

 exists. Then if you can find the answer, 

 we would appreciate having it. We 

 need to have more people thinking 

 about farm-to-highway roads on a scale 

 larger than just their own locality. 



' V V L A. A. RECORD 



SEPT] 



