1940-1949

                         1940 – Arcade Drugs opens at 17th & Charleston.  (now Common Grounds)

 

                         1940 – Fred Smith Shoes opens at 1528 Broadway.  (still in business)

 

                         1940 – Oil discovered in Mattoon.

 

         April 26, 1940 – Sears, Roebuck, and Company opens at 1405 Broadway.

 

                mid 1940s – Checker Top Cab Company founded by Albert Hunt.

 

           July 31, 1941 – Sewage treatment plant opens after years of warnings from state officials concerning the pollution of the Little Wabash River, Kickapoo Creek and Riley Creek.

 

                         1942 – Airport built on Lerna Road for private aircraft.

 

                         1942 – Mattoon High School boys’ basketball team advances to “Sweet Sixteen” tournament for first time in school’s history.

 

         Aug. 14, 1942 – USO opens in the IC Depot.  The Illinois Central donated the former restaurant area for the use of a USO lounge.  It continued operations for the duration of WWII as the only USO in Illinois, outside of Chicago, that serviced in transit service men and women.

 

                         1944 – R. W. Alfred starts A. & B. Transfer rolling with three trucks at 2120 Marshall Ave.      

 

               Sept. 1944 –  “Mad Gasser” attacks grip the city.  A prowler was alleged to be spraying some kind of anesthetic into unsuspecting victims windows rendering them temporarily paralyzed.  The case has not been solved and is thought by many to be mass hysteria.

 

                         1945 – General Electric opens on S. 19th St.

 

                         1945 – Knowles Cafeteria opens in former Buckler-Moore Café in 1600 block of Broadway.

 

                         1946 – There are now 400 oil wells operating in the area.

 

                         1946 – I. O. O. F. cemetery opens as Nellie Ross Hyde Memorial Garden.

 

                         1946 – George & Lois Mitchell Jerdan become directors of Mitchell-Jerdan Funeral Home.

 

                         1946 – Ronchetti Distributing Co. located its main office in Mattoon.

 

             Feb. 9, 1946 – First parking meters put in use.

 

          Nov. 26, 1946 – WLBH begins broadcasting at 250 watts on AM 1170.  WLBH stands for Livesay, Bills, & Harris, the founders of Mattoon Broadcasting Company.

 

                         1947 – Link Clinic opens on 17th St.

 

                         1947 – Mattoon Skyway Drive-in Theater opens, one mile east on Route 16.  (now 316)

 

                         1947 – First Air Force Reserve unit in Coles county organized by Lt. Col. Frank Ronchetti.

 

                         1947 – William F. Kull purchases Andrews Lumber Company on N. 18th.

 

                         1947 – Mattoon Athletic Association formed and ball park built on Logan St. between Dewitt & the New York Central tracks.  The Mattoon Indians Minor League Baseball team founded.

 

                         1947 – Myers Brothers opens on Broadway.

 

                         1948 – Atlas Diesel sells out to Young Radiator.

 

                         1948 – Consolidation of the Mattoon school district #100  with 26 other districts and parts of 14 others into Unit 2.

 

                         1948 – Lou’s Rendezvous restaurant closes at 6th & Route 16.  (now Piatt & 6th St.)

 

                 Oct. 1948 – Harry Truman gives his last campaign speech of the year from a New York Central train platform in Mattoon.

 

                         1949 – Gill’s Drive Inn restaurant opens at 12th St. & Dewitt Ave.

 

                         1949 – WLBH–FM goes on the air.

General Electric

Kull Lumber

Harry Truman

Gills