Remembering Knox’s history this homecoming

As Knox College looks to the future with its planned $8.6 million, 30,000 square foot Whitcomb Art Building, local historian and Knox alum Rex Cherrington took a moment to remember the school’s past.Part of Knox’s history that isn’t widely known is the significance the liberal arts school — at the time, manual labor school — played in bringing the railroad to Galesburg.

Cherrington tells Galesburg Live on WGIL that Jonathan Blanchard, Knox’s second president who served from 1845 to 1857, sold off a portion of college-owned land to the railroad in a move that was hugely beneficial to both Knox and the town.

“This brought in a tremendous amount of money for the college,” Cherrington says. “I’ve not pinned down the exact amount, but this changed everything. This allowed them to build the new building, Knox Female Seminary, which has grown into Whiting Hall, and Old Main, or then called Main Building. Those two buildings came from the prosperity brought from the railroad. Blanchard liked to claim a little more credit for himself than he probably deserved, but that was ok.”

This homecoming weekend, marked by galleries, football, food, a 5K and yoga, concluded today with a series of alum breakfasts.