Editing Streator, Illinois (section)

===Coal and cityhood===
Streator began with coal. Vast beds of coal lie just beneath the surface throughout much of Illinois. The demand for coal was increasing in the mid-19th century, and East Coast capitalists were willing to invest in this region. The area was originally known as [[Wiktionary:Hardscrabble|Hardscrabble]], "because it was a hard scrabble to cross the Vermilion River and get up the hill to where the town was first located". The town was renamed Unionville in honor of the local men who fought for the Union during the Civil War.<ref name="Hardscrabble">{{Cite news |last=Wischnowsky |first=Dave |date=2003-10-27 |title=Welcome to Hardscrabble |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=155015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719175150/http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=155015 |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=2008-10-15 |publisher=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref>

In 1866 [[Worthy S. Streator]], a prominent railroad promoter from [[Cleveland, Ohio]], financed the region's first mining operation. Streator approached his nephew [[Ralph Plumb|Col. Ralph Plumb]] at a railway station in December 1865 about overseeing a mining operation in central Illinois for him and several investors. Colonel Plumb agreed and arrived in the town then called Hardscrabble in February 1866. Success of the project required a rail line near the mines.  Plumb and Streator "invited" Streator's friend, then Ohio Congressman [[James A. Garfield]] to sign on as an investor. In return, Garfield was expected to work with [[Robert C. Schenck]], then the president of the American Central railroad, in getting the railroad to "bend their lines" to Streator.  Eventually the plan did not work. The Vermilion Company then made arrangements with the [[Fox River (Illinois River tributary)#The Fox River in Illinois|Fox River]] line for their needed rail service.
<ref name="Garfield">{{Cite book |last=Peskin |first=Allan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRmY164czTQC&q=Streator&pg=PA268 |title=Garfield: A Biography |publisher=Kent State University Press |year=1998 |isbn=0-87338-210-2 |page=716 |access-date=2008-10-03}}</ref>

Included in Col. Plumb's duties were overseeing the platting and incorporation of the quickly growing area. Plumb served as Streator's first mayor<ref name="FirstMayor">{{Cite news |date=2007-07-02 |title=History: Looking Back |url=http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/print_display.php?id=301991 |access-date=2010-05-23 |work=Streator Times-Press News}}</ref> serving two terms. Plumb's mark on the early development of Streator was notable.  The main hotel and the local opera house bore his name.  He financed the construction of the city's first high school. Earlier in his life he served as an Ohio state representative and as an officer in the Union Army.  Later in life he served Illinois as a representative in Congress.<ref name="ralphplumb">{{Cite web |year=1900 |title=Geographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois – Volume I – Ralph Plumb |url=http://genealogytrails.com/ill/lasalle/history/Biographies/index.html#P |access-date=2010-05-23 |website=GenealogyTrails.com |publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |page=9}} :9</ref><ref name="LaSalle">{{Cite book |last=Shaver-Koller |first=Susan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-rDhXIiq1MkC&q=%22ralph+plumb%22+%2BMayor+%2Bstreator |title=LaSalle County |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=0-7385-4105-2 |location=US |page=128 |access-date=2008-10-03}} :12</ref>

Streator grew rapidly due to a number of factors: the need for coal in Chicago, the desire of European immigrants to come to America, and the investments made by East Coast capitalists willing to invest in coal operations. Plumb needed laborers for his mines, but the Vermilion Coal Company was unable to afford European employment agents. Instead, it alerted steamship offices of the new job opportunities and convinced local railroads to carry notices of Streator's promise.
Land was sold to incoming miners at discounted prices as another enticement, but the company retained mineral rights to the land.  In 1870, Streator's population was 1,486, but by 1880 its population tripled.
Scottish, English, Welsh, German and Irish immigrants came to the area first, followed later by scores of mostly Slovaks; Czechs, Austrians and Hungarians came in lesser numbers.
Today many of the residents are direct descendants of these original miners.<ref name="Laslett">{{Cite book |last=Laslett |first=John H.M. |url=https://archive.org/details/colliersacrossse00john |title=Colliers Across the Sea |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=2000 |isbn=9780252068270 |page=[https://archive.org/details/colliersacrossse00john/page/314 314] |quote=Streator. |access-date=2008-10-02 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The success of the local mining operations and the introduction of the new glass making industry allowed for improvements in the living conditions and personal wealth of its miners and laborers.  An 1884 survey by the Illinois Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 20&nbsp;percent of Streator's miners owned their houses.<ref name="Laslett" />{{rp|91}} Labor movements like the Miners National Association and the [[United Mine Workers of America]] began to flourish, as did ethnic churches and social institutions such as the [[Freemasonry|Masons]] and [[Knights of Pythias]].<ref name="Laslett" />{{rp|89}}  In his 1877 ''History of LaSalle County'', author H.F. Kett states:
<blockquote>Perhaps no city...in Illinois, outside of the great city of Chicago, presents an instance of such rapid and substantial growth as the city of Streator. From a single small grocery house... the locality has grown to be a city of 6,000 prosperous and intelligent people. Churches, school-houses, large, substantial business houses and handsome residences, with elegant grounds and surroundings, now beautify the waste of ten years ago, while the hum of machinery and thronged streets are unmistakable evidences of business importance and prosperity.<ref name="Kett01" />{{rp|323}}
</blockquote>

In addition to coal, the area around Streator contained rich clay and shale, which gave rise to Streator's brick, tile and pipe industries.<ref name="ImmigrantTide">{{Cite book |last=Steiner |first=Edward Alfred |url=https://archive.org/details/immigranttideit00steigoog |title=The Immigrant Tide, Its Ebb and Flow |publisher=F.H. Revell |year=1909 |location=University of Michigan |page=[https://archive.org/details/immigranttideit00steigoog/page/n364 370] |quote=Streator. |access-date=2008-10-01}}</ref> In time, these supplanted coal as Streator's leading exports, but Streator was best known for its [[glass production|glass bottle]] industry. In the early 20th century Streator held the title of "Glass Manufacturing Capital of the World."<ref name="Manufacturing">{{Cite book |last=Kiein |first=Janice Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMuF1r-f0aUC&q=Streator&pg=RA1-PA213 |title=Revitalizing Manufacturing |publisher=CRC Press |year=1990 |isbn=0-256-06809-7 |page=643 |access-date=2008-10-02}}</ref>  Streator continued to flourish for much of the early 20th century.  Ultimately the demand for coal was replaced with the growing needs for gas and oil. Many of the underground mines in Streator closed during the 1920s. The last of the mines shut down in 1958.<ref name="VRAA02">{{Cite book |last=Office of Scientific Research and Analysis |url=http://www.dnr.state.il.us/publications/pdf/00000466.pdf |title=Vermilion River (Illinois River Basin) Area Assessment |date=2000-10-01 |publisher=Illinois Department of Natural Resources – State Geological Survey Division |volume=4.1: Socio-Economic Profile |page=105 |access-date=2008-10-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325114346/http://www.dnr.state.il.us/publications/pdf/00000466.pdf |archive-date=March 25, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> While other areas of LaSalle County continued to grow, Streator's population peaked at about 17,000 residents in 1960 and has since declined. Many of the original downtown buildings have been demolished, but few have been replaced. Another reason for static growth in Streator is its distance from any major [[Interstate Highway]]. When the federal highway system started in the 1950s and 1960s no interstate was built near the city.  Streator is {{convert|23|mi|km}} from [[Interstate 55]], {{convert|16|mi|km}} from [[Interstate 80]] and [[Interstate 39]].<ref name=SCP/>