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City Hall |
In 1854, the population of Elgin ranged between 1,500
and 2,000. It was at that time that the people of Elgin took steps to
incorporate into a city. Elgin, being a religious town, incorporated largely
to be able to control the sale of intoxicating beverages. On February 28
of that year, the Governor approved the charter.
Three years later, The General Assembly created the
Elgin City Court of Common Pleas. This action motivated Elgin to create
its first City Hall building. Prior to that, the business of the
city was conducted above the grocery store.
While Elgin would have two other city hall structures
before it was built, The City Hall Building shown above, was the first Elgin
building with a framework of iron and steel. The four story Victorian-gothic
building was decorated with a turreted clock tower. The clock in the tower
was donated by Mayor William Grote.
A 1920 tornado would weaken the structure, which caused
it to be remodeled in 1934. The City Hall Building would eventually be
torn down in 1969.
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