Evan Massey is a retired Galesburg High School girls basketball coach, one of the winningest in Illinois history, and writes about Galesburg sports and history for WGIL.
In “This Week in Galesburg History,” there was dancing on a rooftop, future MLB players taking swings, and dating advice to teenagers.
This is a look back at the history of Galesburg (and the world). What was going on 100 years ago, 75 years ago, 50 years ago, 25 years ago, and 10 years ago this week?
100 years ago: 1926
If you live in Galesburg, you have probably heard of the famous Arcade Roof Garden. The Roof Garden was on top of the Weinberg Arcade on the corner of South Prairie St. and East Simmons St.
This is an ad for a dance being held. The “cover charge” for the dance is $0.25.
One can only imagine how wonderful it would be on a nice July evening to hang out on the roof of the Weinberg Arcade. My mother grew up in Galesburg and talked about it being THE place to go when in high school and college.
75 years ago: 1951
Ted Grothe Shoes on Main St. was a Galesburg institution for decades. Here is an ad for 1/2 price sales. You could get ladies’ shoes for $3.79 to $9.79. And men could get shoes for $5.79 to $8.79. Certainly bargains on Main Street.
50 years ago: 1976
The Galesburg Pioneers beat the Bloomington Bobcats but lost to the Springfield Caps. This was part of the Central Illinois Collegiate Baseball League. It was filled with top college players.
Galesburg Pioneers existed from 1963-1982, and then again 2004-06. The CICL existed from 1963 thru 2008. In 2008, it merged with the Prospect League, and took on that name.
The CICL included, among others, teams from Bloomington, Quincy, Springfield, Galesburg, and Peoria.
On this night, Bob Berry was one of the Galesburg players playing for the Pioneers.
Future MLB players in the CICL included Jim Sundberg, Phil Bradley, Denny Doyle, Rick and Paul Reuschel, Don Kessinger, Dan Quisenberry, Mike Schmidt, Kirby Puckett, Joe Girardi, Ken Holtzman, Keith Moreland, and Bob Brenly.
25 years ago: 2001
Dr. Robert Wallace was a Knox College grad and a Galesburg resident who had a nationally syndicated advice column. His column focused on advice for teenagers and young adults.
In this column Dr. Wallace includes a letter of a young woman thankful that she didn’t get married at 16, a 13-year-old seeking who could help her learn about the “facts of life,” and a 17-year-old writing letters to a prisoner and falling in love.
10 years ago: 2016
For many in Galesburg, the summer is associated with the American Legion Baseball team. In this article, the Galesburg Legion team defeated the Oneida Legion team to win their 10th straight District championship.
In 2016, the Galesburg Legion was coached by a young GHS graduate and former Legion player, Dalton Davis.
Blog: https://masseybasketball.blogspot.com/
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