PECATONICA, Ill. (WIFR) – With the Pecatonica Fall Festival kicking off Saturday, leaders with the Pecatonica Improvement Association want to share the history of the village’s granary.
History of Pecatonica’s grain elevator
The granary, located on Main Street in the village of Pecatonica, was built in 1881 by Sanborn & Co. It served as a place for farmers to bring their grain, store it, sell it or ship it to other markets on the nearby railroad.
The building operated as a grain elevator until the early 1970s, shortly after the railroad ended operation. It eventually became a feed mill for custom grinding feed until the 1990s.
The granary was then purchased by the Pecatonica Historical Museum which operated until 2015. The building changed hands again when it was donated to a local theater group which operated in a nearby theater, with the condition that the granary be preserved. Eventually, the theater group found a new location…