FAIRBURY HISTORY TALKERS
Fairbury’s History – ever wonder what some of those old buildings on Fairbury’s Main Street cold tell you about themselves if they could talk? There is a lot of history contained in the business section of town, some of which is still identified on the upper sections of the brick building fronts. For instance, the original business section included two saddle and harness stores, a gun and sporting goods store, a poultry house, a drug store, the Fairbury Marble Works that made headstones for the cemetery, and a bed spring factory. When the town got its start back in 1857 it was a different world for how those businesses looked and functioned then as compared to now. The railroad was the primary life line for most of the towns in this area and, what is now the TP&W, became the focal point of Fairbury. The stories, all true, go on and on about the two men who got all this started – there were feuds, civil unrest between the east side and the west side, and ultimately, as the power figures changed, Fairbury became a town that seemed to be constantly on fire. All of that is well in the past now and the town has become a very balanced and comfortable place to live and work, but, oh what a history it has from back “in the day”.
The Fairbury Echoes Museum is going to give us a chance to hear a lot of interesting and fun historical facts about Fairbury’s downtown history by some historically educated “Talkers” on several of the Main Street Corners. There will be six “Talkers” that will tell their audiences how each section of the town came forward through history with regard to the people and the businesses that made it happen. The public is welcome, and encouraged, to give a listen to the colorful history that made Fairbury what it is today.
The next event on the schedule is Saturday, September 2nd, from 10am until noon. The Indian Creek Market will be in full swing in Central Park. Plenty to do and, you can pause along the way to hear what life used to be like on the street you’re standing on.