Next year will be a period of remembrance and celebration for residents of our area because 2026 will be the 200th anniversary of McDonough County. Of course, it was established on the raw frontier, when isolated log cabins, tiny hamlets, food from gardens, the hunting of wild animals, and travel by horseback on dirt pathways characterized the experience of early settlers.
But the cultural development that followed featured distinctive communities, notable educational institutions, businesses that sometimes had a broad impact, agricultural growth and achievement, distinguished political leaders (including presidential candidate L.
Y. Sherman), committed and heroic military figures, women with notable social purposes, and much else.
A McDonough County Bicentennial Committee has been promoting activism from towns, institutions, and organizations. Among the many planned activities by committed agencies are Western Illinois Museum programs on community values and historical figures, a Daughters of the American Revolution “Never Forget Garden” at the Macomb American Legion site, a tour of (and new promotional brochure by) Western’s Malpass Library, which features many historical exhibits, and various historical tours associated with Heritage Days, developed by the Macomb Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Other McDonough County communities, institutions, and organizations are being encouraged to develop programs, exhibits, tours, or other activities for the bicentennial year.
If those projects are in the planning soon, they will be promoted, at no cost, in the bicentennial booklet that is being developed by Community News Brief owner and editor Lynne Campbell. She is a leader in the bicentennial effort, and her newspaper will also carry a series of short memoirs by county residents, whose written recollections have been encouraged by WIU archivist Kathy Nichols and myself.
The Bicentennial Committee is hoping for participation by all the various towns in McDonough County, as well as by many organizations who have social commitment. If any person or group has a question, they can also contact the committee leaders, who include Mayor Mike Inman ([email protected]), City Manager Scott Coker (scoker@cityofmacomb. com), County Board leader Eric Blakely (blakeleyfarms@ gmail.com), editor Lynne Campbell (communitybrief@ gmail.com), archivist Kathy Nichols ([email protected]), and myself (je-hallwas@wiu. edu). We would especially like to have information on bicentennial projects in process by December 8, so we can begin to prepare the McDonough County Bicentennial brochure that will be available the first quarter of the new year and provide information about the 2026 activities.
