Edgar County Genealogy Library

10/14/2026

The Morris House was torn down circa1963-1964, coinciding with the virtual end of passenger rail service that once provided its main support. Formerly known as Hotel Central, it was at 231 N. Central in Paris just south of the railroad and across from the jail. The property was purchased by Floyd Hegg to make way for his dealership car lot. L. Don Morris operated the century-old hotel for 18 years.

The Morris House had 40 sleeping rooms and was a combination of two earlier hotels, the Grand Central Hotel, which was the northern 2/3s of the building, facing the railroad, and the St. Nicholas Hotel on the south. Mr. Morris' grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Lorenzo D. Morris, operated the St. Nicholas for a number of years. (From an undated Beacon article found in an old scrapbook. 1962 Paris city directory lists the Morris House; the 1963 one does not.)

10/04/2026

C. E. Bonner Manufacturing Co. workers pose in front of the factory. Chrisman, 1906. The company manufactured Victor pipe wrenches, patented by Clarence and William Bonner. At one time the factory had 175 employees.

09/29/2026

In June 1976, the Brocton-Hume Record Review called this one of the oldest houses in Brocton. It was built in the 1800s by Dr. Henry Kerrick. When Dr. Kerrick decided to build a bigger house, this one was sold to Jim Nugent and moved to the pictured location. Date of the photo is unknown. The Genealogy Library has 1976-1977 issues of the Record Review.

09/18/2026

Edgar County Genealogy Library will be closed on Friday, September 25 because the Historical Society will present its annual “Walk through History” for area 4th grade classes. We close that day to decrease traffic around the museum complex and make it safer - and easier - for the students to enjoy the activities.

09/17/2026

If you are doing a full-text search in FamilySearch.org and see messages like these, you can visit a FamilySearch Affiliate Library to view the online document. Edgar County Genealogy Library IS an Affiliate Library.

09/13/2026

On April 27, 1958 Memorial School was dedicated to honor teachers who had taught in the district 20 or more years and past school board members. 24 of the 51 honored teachers attended the dedication ceremony. From Paris Beacon News.

09/08/2026

Reprint of an old Paris photo. Southwest corner of the square some time in the 1870s.

08/20/2026

George H. Augustus held his first auction sale in Paris on March 13, 1895, advertised as a combination sale. It and other sales were so successful that he built a sale barn on West Jasper St. It was on the south side of Jasper, east of the old Vandalia railroad, in the area where the old International Harvester building later stood. The first sale in the pictured barn was Sept. 19, 1895. Soon he began selling horses. In October 1897 he added a new cattle barn. The Vandalia Railroad added a siding; more stock pens were added. John C. Risser was cashier, W.T. Blackburn was clerk, H.O. Boyer auctioneer, and Albert Duty superintendent of barns and yards. Augustus died in 1911. The barn burned in 1918, but it was the forerunner of the Illinois Auction Commission and others that continued the tradition of livestock sales on West Jasper. (Sources: Teddy Day's Museum Minutiae and Lee Hamilton's March 1992 Historical Society newsletter article.)

08/15/2026

From the Paris Beacon News, Oct. 27, 1976: Robert and Vera Shephard, with family and staff, celebrate 30 years in the local bakery business. The first 27 years were in the bakery on the southwest corner of the Paris square. From 1973 to the date of this article, they specialized in donuts in a shared space with their Christian Supply bookstore on West Court St.

07/12/2026