Amboy history

he city of Amboy sprang forth from humble roots.

In the mid-1800s, the land that now falls within city limits primarily was farmland, dotted with a few shanties and farmhouses, built by settlers who began arriving in 1837.

All that changed in 1852, when the Illinois Central Railroad bought the farms owned by Cyrus Davis, Joseph Appleton and Joseph Farwell, with plans to make Amboy its manufacturing and repair shop hub.

A survey was done on March 23, 1854, to establish the original portion of town, and bonds for lot deeds were executed that July.

The first city lot, on the northeast corner of Main Street and South East Avenue, was bought by John L. Skinner for $600. He built a hotel on the lot, and within a year, there were 100 homes and 1,000 people in Amboy.

As the Illinois Central Railroad made progress on its buildings, people came to Amboy and settled there. To accommodate them, Amboy’s original plat was expanded repeatedly until the city limits encompassed nearly 1,000 acres of land.

By July 1856, Amboy had nearly 2,000 residents, 500 houses, two churches (also used as schoolhouses), a printing office, 16 stores, several groceries, a planning mill, three hotels, two livery stables and other shops, including a carpenter, cabinet, blacksmith, tin, mattress, paint and harness shop.

Common storerooms were rented at $150 to $200 a year, homes from $10 to $20 a month. A town without a name

The town continued to grow and prosper, but did not have a name.

Residents called a meeting to rectify that situation, and many suggestions were made, including Hornsby, Bolton, Painted Post and Elmira. Finally, the name Bath was chosen.

Lorenzo D. Wasson was sent to Dixon with the necessary papers to have the town so incorporated, but when the papers were returned, to everyone’s astonishment, it had been incorporated as Amboy.

The cause of the change never has been determined. HISTORY cont’d to page 6

East Avenue in Amboy, circa 1910.

Some thought the name Amboy came from Perth Amboy, New Jersey, which was named for the Earl of Perth, while others attribute it to the Indian word “em-bo-li,” which means “between the hills.”

It may not have been the city’s chosen name, but it stuck, and the city was incorporated as Amboy by popular vote on March 2, 1857. Later that year, Col. John B. Wyman was elected its first mayor. Mormons at Palestine Grove

Among some of the early settlers in the Amboy region were Benjamin and Elizabeth Wasson. The Wassons built a cabin along the Green River in 1837, and later a house in what was then known as Palestine Grove, just outside of present-day Amboy.

Elizabeth Wasson’s sister was Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When the Smiths and other members of the Mormon Church fled religious prosecution in Fayette, New York, they moved to Illinois and settled in Commerce. The village later changed its name to Nauvoo.

Because Nauvoo and Amboy were not too far apart, the Smiths would travel to Amboy to visit the Wassons and helped establish Mormonism within the community, making Amboy one of the first settlements of the Mormon Church.

Just outside of Amboy on Mormon Road, the Mormon Church established the Mormon Cemetery. One of Brigham Young’s wives is buried there.

After Joseph Smith died and the church was moved to Plano, members of the Mormon Church began attending some of the other churches in Amboy. By 1854, there were nine churches in Amboy.

HISTORY cont’d to page 6

Make Your Event

...An Affair to Remember.

~ Accommodates 250+ People ~ ~ Great for Wedding Receptions ~ ~ Anniversaries and More ~ AMBOY COMMUNITY CENTER

280 W. Wasson Rd., Amboy 815-857-3814 Julie DeArmitt, Manager Get To Know Us: Amboy | 2022-23

In 1942, Amboy was selected as the site for the Green River Ordnance Plant, one of four munitions assembly facilities built in Illinois during World War II.

The Stewart-Warner Corp. operated the 8,342-acre facility for the Army Ordnance Corp., which had seven munitions lines.

The types of ammunition manufactured at Green River ranged from rifle grenades to armor-piercing shells to bombs. The bazooka rocket was developed and produced there.

By Dec. 15, 1942, Green River employed 4,419 people on 3 shifts, 6 days a week. More than half of these workers were women, who were entering the work force in significant numbers for the first time.

Worker turnover was constant, especially on the loading lines where explosive powder in the air caused skin infections and inhaling the powder caused respiratory problems.

Despite the constant need for new workers, Green River was awarded an Army-Navy “E” flag for efficiency in production and won two more stars by the end of the war.

Only 5 percent of the nation’s war production plants received this award.

By the time the plant ceased production on Aug. 20, 1945, Green River had produced 25 million rifle grenades, 10 million 75-mm projectiles and 10,921 1,600-pound bombs.

Starting life in the heart of American’s farmland, and staying rooted in the ideals that helped it grow and prosper, Amboy is just like the train engine of storybook fame: It’s the little city that could. n

Visit Historic AmboyCity of Amboy

227 East Main St., Amboy, Illinois 61310 815-857-3814 www.cityofamboy.org

John Schamberger, Mayor

he Amboy Depot Museum offers guests a whistle-stop tour of local history.

Located in a former depot and division headquarters of the Illinois Central Railroad, the museum is an architecturally unique two-story building built of brick and cut Joliet limestone, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It has been completely restored inside and out, and includes the original brick tarmac surrounding the depot and the grounds of the former rail-yard, now preserved as a city park.

Also reconstructed were the distinctive chimney caps on the building’s eight chimneys, fully restoring the building to its original exterior configuration.

Within the museum are artifacts of the history of Amboy and the Illinois Central Railroad.

The museum complex also contains a freight house with additional artifacts, a fully restored oneroom country MORE INFO Amboy Depot Museum schoolhouse, a 227 E. Main St. retired steam Contact: 815-857-4700, 815-857-3814 or engine and a information@amboydepotmuseum.org caboose. Online: amboydepotmuseum.org or find

The museum is Amboy Depot Museum on Facebook. downtown on Main Street, two blocks west of U.S. Route 52 (turn at Casey’s General Store).

The museum is open April through October, and closed Nov. 1 through March 31 and on holidays. Hours are 1-4 p.m. Sunday; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday; closed Monday-Thursday. Museum doors close 30 minutes before closing time.

Admission is by donation.

Museum membership is available and is open to anyone who is interested in preserving the museum’s buildings, the history of the Amboy Area and the railroad’s part in the birth of Amboy. Annual membership frees, go toward preserving the museum. Membership forms are available at amboydepotmuseum.org/membership.pdf n