'The Big Little City' of Gibson

When Jonathan Lott bought up a few hundred acres of swampland in the flat prairie of East Central Illinois in 1870, he likely never imagined that his land would be the fertile footings for "a big little city."

But the wolves and wild geese and prairie chickens have given way to one of the area's most bustling communities.

The City of Gibson has a store-filled downtown, a hospital, an 18-hole golf course, a four-star restaurant, a swimming pool, a drive-in movie theater and those lovely old two-story homes with the character and charm reminiscent of the days when white picket fences decorated most lawns.

Townspeople even can brag about a community band that plays Thursday nights in the summer time at the former Chatauqua pavilion in North Park.

The high school band director leads the musicians, who've pulled their trombones, saxophones and clarinets from the back of their closets, to play Sousa marches and other melodies for an hour. Band boosters sell pie and ice cream.

"Everybody takes their lawn chairs and sits up there and just, y' know, has a good ol' time," said Bob Crossman, 83, a longtime Gibsonite.

The town's founder, a Civil War veteran, and wife Margaret lived in a boxcar while their first cottage was being built on their 250 acres. Other families had settled in the area as early as 1850 but were several miles away from Lott's "town."

He decided to name it Gibson in honor of his wife's maiden name. But when he sent the registration papers in, post office officials tacked "City" onto it to avoid confusion with the town of Gilson.

Jonathan Lott is given credit for pulling the strings to bring not one – but three – railroads to the city.

Today the Illinois Central tracks are still humming with the traffic of freight trains that serve the grain elevators and soybean processing plant.

Many of its 3,300-some residents are able to find jobs in the city, and many also commute into Bloomington (34 miles) and Champaign-Urbana (30 miles).

"It's a nice town to raise kids in," said Crossman, who served on the council for a dozen years.

"I have one daughter who lives in Florida now, and she says she's sure glad she grew up here. They could walk to school, walk to the swimming pool, had movies downtown. You know, they weren't scared of nothin'.

"Just always been a good place to live."

Friendly small town

Mayor Dan Dickey appears to have it right when he refers to this community as the "Big Little City." It is a small town with rural friendliness and values but with "city" in its name and attitude.

Perhaps it's the fact that three state highways (9, 47 and 54) still intersect there or that three railroads once crisscrossed the town.

Perhaps it's the fact that in 1977 a Time magazine story noted that Gibson City had been selected as the site of the first McDonald's restaurant to be opened in a small town.

Gibson City is surrounded by productive farmland and on the town's west side, agriculture is the obvious industry as the elevators of international giants Solae and Cargill together with Alliance Grain tower over the horizon.

These companies have massive, modern facilities that store a combined 19 million bushels of grain and together move 45 million bushels through their Gibson City locations each year.

The Solae plant at Gibson City (formerly Central Soya) also has processed edible soy protein since 1962.

A new kind of agribusiness will join the scene as One Earth Energy is on schedule to begin construction this year of a million-gallon ethanol plant near Alliance Grain.

The well-known former agricultural products manufacturer M & W Gear's Gibson City plant has been acquired by Texas-based Alamo Group and is once again expanding.

But business in Gibson City isn't all about agriculture.

Toll Packaging Group is a contract packager, producing retail-size packages from bulk goods supplied by national clients from the top 100 food companies.

McNutt Consulting Services offers high-tech business solutions – custom programming, Web-site development and network technology. And four other companies – CITS, Hi-Tech Towers, MUTI and Rhodes Tower Service – provide a variety of satellite and tower communications services throughout the Midwest.

Few vacancies

In the historic downtown area with its brick streets and seasonal planters, traditional main street elements are visible.

Yet, again, it's the expected mixed with the unexpected.

Friendly Flower Shop owner Josh Johnson, president of the Gibson Area Chamber of Commerce, calls the retail scene "unique and diversified" for a small community.

Traditional stores like a barber shop and coffee shop share downtown with a lumber yard, hardware and electronics store, furniture and appliance stores, and retail shops.

There are even two relative newcomers to the downtown area, a rarity for most small towns. Fairchild Music Shop features new and used instruments, sound systems and lessons. Perfection Coffee House offers gourmet coffee beverages and sandwiches.

In addition to the The Bayern Stube, a four-star German restaurant, there is Vienna Yang, a Chinese restaurant with a lunch buffet.

Hustedt Jewelers is a family-owned store that offers retail gifts and custom jewelry. Sitting alongside Illinois 9, Wil E Makit Antiques has now answered the question in its name by celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. The shop also repairs porcelain, pottery and dolls and re-covers fabric lamp shades.

Led by the full-service Gibson Area Hospital and Health Services, the town has 10 physician offices, three pharmacies, two dentists, an orthodontist, chiropractors, and more.

The Friendly Flower Shop & Greenhouse is known for unique wedding creations, while Ropp's Greenhouses sells both retail and wholesale bedding plants and offers landscaping services to the area – including Champaign.

The town also has three large agricultural implement dealers and three car dealers.

"I like how the merchants keep downtown 'uptown,' " resident Betty Meiners said.

The town has 10 churches. And The Jake's Boys, a well-known area gospel men's singing group, is from Gibson City.

Ringing in success

Not a community to rest on past successes, Gibson City is gearing up for another downtown revitalization offering funding from one of its three tax-increment financing districts.

"We're always looking to the future – it's something we have to do because things are always changing," Dickey said.

He searched for an idea to promote the uniqueness of the community and has promoted wind chimes in the downtown area as one way of doing that.

He has purchased the chimes with his own money, and in typical Gibson City style, they aren't just any wind chimes but rather ones known as the "Stradivarius" of wind chimes. One set hangs outside city hall.

Besides the local coffee shops, the town's news is shared by a weekly newspaper, The Courier, and by locally-owned radio station WGCY at 106.3 FM.

Besides the traditional radio dial, the station's "easy listening" music is streamed on the World Wide Web at www.wgcyradio.com. Residents now share opinions via traditional letters to the editor and at WGCY's blog.

The local Chamber of Commerce sponsors events ranging from a traditional community appreciation dinner at the town park to the much-hailed annual lighted Christmas parade.

Quality of Life

One might expect the town's quiet, tree-lined streets dotted with historic homes.

But the city also has new subdivisions. On the west side, Falcon Pointe is entering Phase II ahead of schedule. Railside Estates is in early-stage development with lots adjacent to the 18-hole golf course.

Many residents will tell you the heart of their community is its youth, and the city offers several unique opportunities for tots to teens.

The town is home to the Ford County Youth Soccer League's fields and a competitive summer swim team is based at the city pool. Youth baseball is a summer rite of passage and the town's traditions make all players eligible.

A volunteer-run children's theatre program known as ACT offers a summer musical each summer in the North Park Pavilion.

Children in second through seventh grades can participate in llinois Football and Cheerleading; and the Moyer Library staff offers children a variety of reading groups and activities.

Three city parks hum with playgrounds and baseball games. The town boasts a state-winning men's fast-pitch softball team.

Railside Golf Club features an 18-hole bent-grass course that is privately owned but is open to the public.

For more exercise, there are three fitness centers and a winter indoor walking program at the school.

Attracting residents

In 2003 the city, the Grow Gibson City Committee launched a package of incentives for families to move to Gibson City.

The plan was started in an effort to reverse the community's population losses. In 1970, Gibson City had 3,681 residents, according to the Census Bureau. By 2000, there were 3,361 residents.

The package includes $200 in Gibson bonus bucks (good at local stores); a one-year family pool pass; a $50 picnic package, a $50 hardware package, discounts at Railside; free labor at a body shop; three months of free garbage pickup; two tickets to the Gibson Area Hospital Auxiliary's banquet; a free will from an attorney; car wash tokens; free water softener rental and gift certificates for flowers, antiques, clothing, jewelry and restaurants.

"The people who live here like our small town atmosphere," Dickey said. "Our community is safe. We've got a good school system and a hospital. It's a good place to raise a family.

"I'd like to think we're pro-family and pro-business."

Resident and furniture store owner Scott Moody likes knowing so many people in town, and that they know him.

"You're a name, not a number," Moody said.