Editing Arrowsmith, Illinois (section)

==History==

===Founding of Arrowsmith===
Arrowsmith was laid out on December 7, 1871, by Charles W. Holder (1808–1887) and Owen T. Reeves (1829- ?).<ref>''Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McLean County, Illinois'' (Chicago: Munsell, 1908) p.902.</ref> The founders kept their identities hidden for two years until the plat was officially recorded.<ref>''History of McLean County, Illinois'' (Chicago: LeBaron, 1879)  pp. 678-679.</ref> Both proprietors lived in Bloomington, were experienced land dealers, and were involved in the creation of  the [[LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad|Lafayette Bloomington and Muncie Railroad]]. Holder had been Jesse Fell's partner in the founding of [[Towanda, Illinois]], was one of his partners in the development of [[Normal, Illinois]], and the town of [[Holder, Illinois]], would soon be named in his honor. Reeves was a Bloomington lawyer and judge who had been colonel of the short-lived 70th Illinois Infantry during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Arrowsmith Township had voted $30,000 in bonds to support the construction of the railroad on the condition that a station be established in their township. It was at first thought that the name of the town would be Weldon, but it was soon learned that this name had been taken by a newly founded town in [[DeWitt County, Illinois|DeWitt County]]. Arrowsmith takes its name from the township in which it was located, which had been named for early settler Ezekiel Arrowsmith. Several of the first buildings in Arrowsmith were moved to the new town from Senex, located about three miles to the southwest near the edge of Old Town Timber. Taking advantage of cold weather, John Thompson had used 32 horses to skid his store from Senex to Arrowsmith in just over two hours. The Senex blacksmith shop and the post office were moved in the same year. However, most of the buildings in the new town were newly constructed, and many of the early merchants were from places other than Senex.<ref>William D. Walters, Jr. "Town-Making in Eastern McLean County: A Geographic Microstudy", ''Bulletin of the Illinois Geographical Society'' (Fall 1998) LX:2, pp. 30-31.</ref>

===Original town design and development===
The design of the original town was centered on a wide railroad ground, with eight blocks north of the tracks and eight blocks south of the tracks. Most of the early businesses were along Main Street north of the tracks. Both grain elevators and the early stockyards were north of the tracks, but the depot was on the south side.<ref>''Combined Indexed Atlas 1856-1914, McLean County, Illinois'' (Bloomington: McLean County Historical Society and McLean County Genealogical Society, 2006) p. 160.</ref> In 1876 the [[LaFayette, Muncie and Bloomington Railroad|Lafayette Bloomington and Muncie Railroad]] was leased to the [[Lake Erie and Western Railroad]] which purchased the line in 1879, and the railroad is usually remembered under this name. Arrowsmith was incorporated as a village in April 1890.<ref>''Historical Encyclopedia'', 1908, p. 902.</ref> The growth of Arrowsmith was slow; in 1900 it had only 317 people.