PEORIA MAGAZINE November 2023

in less revenue for the city’s day-to-day operations and capital improvement projects.” Despite those challenges and others, Lincoln has survived and thrived at times since the town was founded by three businessmen and christened by Abraham Lincoln with watermelon juice taken from a nearby wagonload of watermelons. As Lincoln was an attorney who had handled the legalities of the town’s founding, the community was named for him. “We’re working hard today to grow our population and re-ignite our economic engine,” Welch said. “We have very active downtown business owners and resi dents like our small-town atmosphere, where they know each other and know their neighbors.” BANKING ON THE FAMOUS … AND NOTORIOUS Kathie Williams owns Small Town Creations, an eclectic store that’s been in business for five years at its current location at 115 S. Kickapoo St. in down town Lincoln. She sells home decor and gourmet coffee beans, trophies, plaques and personalized gifts. As the name of her business suggests, Williams likes the small-town feel of Lincoln. “The only big box store we have is the Walmart on the west side of town,” she said. “And our major grocery store, the Lincoln IGA, is locally owned. “I know most of my customers. I make sure they’re greeted and welcomed when they come into my store. Some of them pour their hearts out to me. We’re like family.” Lincoln’s most well-known locally owned restaurant is Guzzardo’s Italian Villa at 509 Pulaski St., a family-owned and operated establishment built in 1957. It shares a patio with the Spirited Republic pub and brewery and Top Hat Creamery ice cream store. “A lot of folks who don’t live in Lincoln call Guzzardo’s ‘that really good Italian place in Lincoln,’” Welch said. “They don’t know the name, but they know the place.”

A telephone booth remains on top of the Lincoln City Hall building, once used as a lookout position for severe weather spotters

L incoln is a city that is steeped in history but not immune to modern challenges. It’s the only city named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president in 1861, historic U.S. Route 66 runs right through it, and it’s the home for the Logan County Tourism Bureau and Visitors Center, located in a fully re stored train depot that was built in 1911. ‘WE’RE WORKING HARD TODAY TO GROW OUR POPULATION AND RE-IGNITE OUR ECONOMIC ENGINE’ — Mayor Tracy Welch Being a railroad stop is the major reason why Lincoln prospered after its founding in 1853. “We’re known throughout the world. We’re a destination of sorts,” said Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch, who was born and raised in the city, joined the Lincoln City Council as an appointee in 2015, and was elected mayor in 2021 after serving a year as acting mayor. “Lincoln residents are passionate about it being a historic town,” Welch said. “But being historic also means we’re an older town and we have to maintain our infrastructure. We just spent $16 million for a sewer project mandated by the IEPA (Illinois Envi ronmental Protection Agency).”

WEATHERING THE UPS AND DOWNS AFTER A WATER MELON JUICE BLESSING The population of Lincoln was 13,288 in 2020, according to the decennial Census. That was a 15.6% drop from the 2000 population of 15,369 and a 9.1% fall from the 2010 population of 14,504. “Not our fault,” Welch said of the population decline. “That’s happened because of the climate in Illinois. People are leaving because it’s such an expen sive place to live.” Another recent loss the city couldn’t prevent was the closing last year of Lincoln College, founded in 1865 and known and lauded for being the college choice of thousands of first-generation college students. The modern problems of the COVID-19 pandemic and a cyberattack caused Lin coln College’s shutdown. The shuttering of the college has hit the city of Lincoln hard. “From a 10,000-foot view, the closing has meant less educational options for students, fewer jobs for educators, loss of employable resources and revenue for local businesses, and less tax generating revenue for the city,” Welch said. “When there are fewer local options, people have to travel elsewhere,” he added. “That means they’re taking tax revenue outside the city, which results

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