CITY BEAT: TRANSFER HOUSE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE SUBJECTS IN WRITING ABOUT DECATUR’S HISTORY
Paul Osborne
Editor/Publisher
It’s no secret to anyone who has read this newspaper over the years that one of my favorite subjects is the history of the Transfer House before it was moved from Lincoln Square to Central Park in 1962.
In fact, the Transfer House is the subject of this week’s “Scrapbook” feature on pages 4 and 5 of the print and online editions.
One paragraph in the story about the Transfer House has some numbers that are hard to imagine in today’s downtown Decatur.
It states: “A survey that was made in 1913, indicated that 36 street cars an hour passed through Lincoln Square, and, if the 82 interurbans a day were totaled in, some 730 cars were passing around the Transfer House every day!”
That’s hard to imagine.
I’m old enough to remember when the Transfer House was in Lincoln Square. When my parents and I lived on West Packard Street, and I was a student at Roosevelt Junior High School on Grand, I would often ride my bicycle to the Carnegie Library at Eldorado and North Main to check out books.
Often, while in front of the library I would look south and see the Transfer House in the distance in Lincoln Square.
Most of the time I would ride down to Lincoln Square, make a stop in the southeast corner of the square at Bolay’s Hobbies, and enjoy the special feeling I got as I watched the activity at the Transfer House.
I’ve mentioned before in some of my columns that the first place I wanted to drive when I got my driver’s license was around the Transfer House, which I did. (The second place I wanted to drive was to the Steak ‘n Shake on East Eldorado, which I did.)
I thought the Transfer House would always be in Lincoln Square but it nearly didn’t survive at all as it, as the “Scrapbook” article indicates, came close to being demolished until there was a citizen uprising to save it and it was moved to Central Park.
This newspaper’s two locations before moving to its present location in the Millikin Court Building at 132 South Water Street 16 years ago, were at 265 South Park Street (with the Transfer House across the street in Central Park) and then at 240 North Park Street (with the Transfer House across the street in Central Park).
For 30 years at those two locations my view out of my office windows included the Transfer House.
For the past 16 years, with our newspaper offices on the fourth floor at 132 South Water Street, my view out of the office windows includes Lincoln Square where the Transfer House was located until it was moved to Central Park.
Several years ago, a subscriber gave me a piece of artwork which depicted the Transfer House and I hung it in one of my office windows where it remains today — with Lincoln Square in the distance behind it.
The Transfer House has been in the background of my life, most of my life and when I was mayor, one of the “Treasures of Decatur” projects I worked on was revitalizing the Transfer House and Lincoln Square.
Although a majority of the city council stayed with me on the project, realizing its value to tourism, someone(s) at the state level killed it.
However, we were able to allocate funds and repair the historic structure before it was completely destroyed by age and neglect. (Downtown Decatur Council offices that were located there had to move out because the Transfer House was deemed unsafe for people to be inside of it.)
Anyhoo, the Transfer House was saved once again and today is under the jurisdiction of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.
It remains one of the most recognizeable historic structures in our city and will remain that as long as Decatur remains — and we have citizens who care about preserving our history.
• THE FARMER’S Market began its Saturday morning summer run in downtown’s Central Park recently.
It is nice to walk the block from my office and pick up my week’s supply of fresh tomatoes. (Another market is in the 300 block of North Water on Saturdays.)
This Saturday (June 20) the Farmer’s Market will be located on the other side of Water Street (across from Central Park) because of the Juneteenth Cele-bration in the park.
Peter Vercellino has been my official weekly tomato “supplier” for years and he always has a bag of them waiting for me when I go to the park on Saturday mornings.
• PROPERTY TAX!!! It seems that I write something in this column about every week regarding the high property taxes we have in our area — and across the state!
Since last we met on this page, I have received more feedback from people angry about how much they are paying each year for the “privilege of living in Decatur”. The property tax complaints have surpassed concerns of dealing with crazy drivers and the terrible condition of the city’s streets and highways! (Probably because the property tax bills were received recently.)
According to LegalClarity Team, “Illinois homeowners carry one of the heaviest property tax burdens in the nation, with an effective rate around 2.01% — roughly double what homeowners pay in most other states. The causes run deeper than any single policy decision: a record number of local taxing districts, a school funding system that leans heavily on local property wealth, constitutionally protected pension obligations, and economic development tools that redirect tax revenue away from general services all compound to push bills higher year after year.”
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