Editing Arrowsmith, Illinois (section)

===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.