Day in history for July 31, 2001

1876 -- 125 years ago

Keator's And Co.'s mill shut down for a few days, owing to scarcity of logs, and also to repair the logway.

1901 -- 100 years ago

At last the end of the work of constructing the Hennepin Canal is in sight and with upwards of a million dollars the great project will be completed.

1926 -- 75 years ago

Electric power service to a dozen Rock Island industrial concerns was interrupted and both light and power service to East Moline were broken off when a bolt of lightning struck a sub-station.

1951 -- 50 years ago

Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Thrap and their six small children were getting settled today in their new home, thanks to the kindness of an East Moline restaurant owner and a local landlord. The family arrived here from Michigan and was forced to sleep in the family car in an East Moline park. Mr. Thrap, a welder, came to East Moline to seek employment and succeeded in finding a job. However, finding a house was another story. The family ate their meals at the Jimmy Sullivan Restaurant all last week and Sullivan took it upon himself to find a house for the family.

1976 -- 25 years ago

A haunting, cast-iron sound of yesteryear is swelling into the grandstand during the 119th Henry County Fair. The old starter bell, which sent horses down the track, has been dug up, refurbished and reinstated. It was taken down decades ago when starting gates replaced it. The starting gates will still be used, but the bell will toll too, for the sake of history.

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