Editing Chatsworth, Illinois (section)

===Growth===

The first building was a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story frame structure used as both a residence and store, which was built by Charles D. Brooks and Truman Brockway of [[New York (state)|New York]]. Brooks was the first postmaster and the first grain dealer. Early growth of the town was very rapid, and by 1870 Chatsworth had 999 people.<ref name="DecennialCensus"/> The first hotel was the Cottage House, built by Samuel Patton. Soon a newspaper, the ''Plaindealer'', was being published.<ref>''History of Livingston, 1858, pp 392-393.''</ref> In 1879 a second railroad, the Kankakee and Southwestern, passed through the town and was given a right of way down Second Street. In 1887 the town rendered aid in the train accident known as the [[Great Chatsworth Train Wreck]]. Telephone service came in 1883, and an electric light plant was built in 1894. In March 1924 seventy to one hundred men arrived in town to work on a paved highway, at first known as the Corn Belt Trail, which soon became [[U.S. Route 24|Route 24]] and formed an important east–west route across Illinois.<ref>''Chatsworth Centennial'', 1967.</ref>