Visit to Kewanee

We arrived at friend Will's place on Saturday, and went out in the afternoon on a drive to Kewanee, Illinois.

We stopped at Fred Francis' "Woodland Palace". While we just missed the timing to be able to go on a tour, we were able to see the outside:

Will told us that the owner/builder transported the bricks to the property himself via his bicycle - just a few bricks at a time!

A message from the owner/builder. "Grounds are free for all who do right and all such are welcome. Those who throw paper and rubbish on the ground, meddle with property, or let kids do so, are hereby cordially invited to stay away. Fred Francis" He passed away in 1926 and left the house and grounds to the city of Kewanee.

From reading online, it seems that Mr Francis did not like flies, so he had two well-screened porches. He also had a double entry door in the back, so you went into the first door, closed it, made sure that there were no flies, before opening the inner door to enter the house.

His wife had tuberculosis, so he built her a sunroom.

Maybe we'll get back by another time!

On the National Registry of Historic Places

 More information:  http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Illinois/_Texts/DRUOIH/Northern_Illinois/22*.html

We then drove to Kewanee, the "Hog Capital of the World"!

Labor Day weekend is "Hog Days"!

We enjoyed butterfly pork chop sandwiches and seeing the people...

After years of sustained growth in that area, the United States Department of Agriculture noticed one day that Henry County in Illinois was leading the entire nation in hog production.  So on Saturday, September 20, 1947, after the USDA had declared officially that Henry County was the "top hog" so to speak in America when it came to pork production, Kewanee, being the largest community in the County, took upon itself to mark the occasion by holding the very first ever "Hog Day." The special day included a barrow show...a public showing of the best hogs in this area.  Pens were set up in the 200 block of North Tremont Street in the heart of Kewanee's business district with over 150 swine shown by area farmers. Temporary street signs were installed renaming the downtown streets "Duroc" "Hampshire" and "Yorkshire" among others. A carnival was brought in and set up as well. Prize drawings were held throughout the day by local merchants.  There was even a hog calling contest to mark the occasion!

History from: http://kewaneehogdays.com/history.htm
We didn't see any live hogs during the 2018 event, but it was fun nonetheless!