Editing Griggsville, Illinois (section)

==Events==
Griggsville hosts the Apple Festival on the third weekend of each September, along with the Western Illinois Fair, traditionally held during the third week of June. The regional Western Illinois Fair servicing seven surrounding counties is the oldest continuously operating local fair in the state of Illinois, held annually since 1888.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://westernillinoisfair.com/about_us|title=Western Illinois Fair - About Us|website=westernillinoisfair.com|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306095540/http://westernillinoisfair.com/about_us|archive-date=6 March 2018|access-date=2018-03-06}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

===Purple martins===
[[File:Griggsville,_Illinois.jpg|thumb|left|Purple martin houses]]
Griggsville is located between the [[Mississippi River]] and the [[Illinois River]] and the hot muggy summers are the perfect habitat for [[mosquitoes]]. Amid growing concern over the use of [[pesticides]] to control mosquitoes, the town came up with an alternate abatement method. J.L. Wade, a Griggsville resident and owner of a local antenna manufacturing factory realized that Griggsville was right in the migration path of the [[purple martin]], the largest bird in the swallow family, supposedly able to eat 2,000 mosquitoes in a single day.<ref>[http://www.naturesociety.org/griggsville.php The Nature Society<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Purple Martin Capital of the Nation, Griggsville, Illinois |url=https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/3649 |access-date=2023-10-12 |website=RoadsideAmerica.com |language=en}}</ref> <!--  Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:pm sign1.gif|left]] --> J.L. Wade quickly realized that to get the purple martins to stay, he simply needed to give them a reason to stay, so he converted his antenna factory into a bird house building factory. The mosquito population dwindled, which lead the town to adopt the nickname "The Purple Martin Capital of the Nation", as well as labeling the purple martin "America's Most Wanted Bird."<ref>{{Citation |last=Griggsville Wild Bird Society |title=Purple Martin Story, The |url=http://archive.org/details/0913_Purple_Martin_Story_The_10_12_52_13 |access-date=2023-10-12 |publisher=Griggsville Wild Bird Society}}</ref> Additionally, Wade's purple martin business, formerly Trio Manufacturing, published a newsletter called ''The Nature Society News''. The purple martin factory has been recently sold to a Chicago businessman. Griggsville has installed over 5,000 birdhouses along the city streets, including a 562-apartment high rise installed in 1962, reaching a height of 70&nbsp;ft.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />