Page "Dwight, Illinois" Paragraph 5

Unfortunately for the partners, their plan did not go quite as expected.

When the surveyors, working for the railroad ’ s chief engineer, Oliver H. Lee, reached the proposed location of the town in 1853 the speculators found that the tracks would pass slightly east of the planned central point and would go through lands in Morgan ’ s part of the land.

This would have made Morgan ’ s lots more valuable than the others.

The men reconsidered their plan.

In the revised version, everyone would convey their lots to Morgan, who would then sell the lots, and split the total profits.

This was done.

In 1855 the partnership was dissolved and all unsold lots were divided among the five men.

To announce to the public that a town would be located here, a tin pan was placed on top of a telegraph pole.

Railroad workers flooded into the townsite.

Morgan became afraid that they would cover valuable lots with “ Irish shanties ” and make the lots unsellable.

Therefore he had John Campbell erect a boarding house.

This was the first building in Dwight.

The first house in town was built by Augustus West in June 1854.

The first passenger train reached Dwight on 4 July 1854 and regular traffic on the railroad began in August of that year.

The first store was a two story building put up by David McWilliams in 1855 and painted white to attract customers.

The first item sold was a pattern for a “ lawn dress ” that one of the workmen purchased for the wife of the station master.

In 1857 John Spencer began buying grain and erected a grain warehouse.

A grain elevator soon followed and a large stone mill was built in 1859.