Filmed on Sunday, May 12 2024, I drive around Towanda, IL to see what's going on.
The village was named for Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. The name means "burial ground" in Nanticoke, an Algonquian language.
Towanda was laid out by two McLean County real estate developers, Jesse W. Fell and Charles W. Holder. Fell was a widely known land dealer in central Illinois who played a major role in founding many towns in the region, including Clinton, Dwight, Normal, and Pontiac, and who was the driving force behind the establishment of the school that would become Illinois State University. Holder was linked with Fell in many of his town founding schemes.
Trains were essential to the development of the town, but traffic to the town was never heavy. Towanda was always overshadowed by Lexington to the north and Bloomington/Normal to the south. Passenger service to the town ended in the 1940s.
Towanda was home to TV personality Bonnie Lou who gained international popularity in the 1950s.
#drivingtour #smalltownlife #illinois
12 сен 2024
