Our next stop along Route 66 was the small town of Chenoa. We've included some pics here of our quick stop.
Chenoa is home to the state historic site home of Matthew T. Scott -- the de facto founder of the town.
Scott was a local "agriculturist" and real estate developer. He was born in Kentucky and spent some time in Ohio before coming to central Illinois to develop farmland. As part of that effort, he created the town of Chenoa, which was officially founded in 1854.
A little later in his career, he also founded the McLean County Coal Company, in partnership with Adlai Stevenson I, whose grave we visited in this post.
According to Wikipedia, "the area surrounding Chenoa boasts some of the richest soil in the world," rivaled only be patches of farmland in Argentina, the Ukraine, and along the Yellow River in China."
The population of Chenoa was 1,851 in 2009, and the town is currently home to antique dealers and a handful of small manufacturers.
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