The Chamber GUIDE 2019 Business and Community Resource quincychamber.org quincychamber.org 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 1 2 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY quincychamber.org Working together for a greater Quincy area PARTNERSHIP. VISION. GROWTH. CHANGE. Bruce Guthrie Latonya Brock Marcel Wagner Mayor Kyle Moore Executive Director Executive Director President City of Quincy The District Quincy Area Great River Chamber of Economic Development Commerce Foundation Not pictured: Holly Cain, Executive Director of Quincy Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Table of Contents 4 Quincy & Its History 13 Young Professionals 21 Private Schools 6 Quincy Today 14 Shopping & Dining 23 Business & Industry Healthcare & 7 Worship & Faith 16 Places to Live 31 Medicine Location & 8 Transportation 19 Parks & Recreation 34 Seniors Tourism & Culture 9 20 Education 35 Day Trips Utilities & Services BEST SELECTION OF NEW & USED VEHICLES! 36 Membership 38 Directory 54 Buyer’s Guide 217-222-8900 Cover Photo © B.L. Khoury PoageAutoPlaza.com • 4300 Broadway • Quincy www.becauseitlookskool.com quincychamber.org 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 3 Quincy and Its History In the early 19th century, the Mississippi River was seen as the essence of opportunity. Shortly after Illinois became a state in 1818 and Military Tract bounty land became available, John Wood and Willard Keyes bought land in what they deemed the perfect spot on the Mississippi, where the water met the bluffs. It was an ideal port for steamboats, trading and commercial prospects. Within a few years, the riverfront bustled with passengers, porters, tradesmen and speculators. Between 1829 and 1870, more than 10,500 Germans settled in Quincy, bringing to the community skilled craftsmen and high caliber citizens, the majority of whom settled in the southwest section of the city. Manufacturers produced stoves, plows, household furniture, organs, carriages, and farm wagons. Several breweries and a distillery also prospered. Front Street was a mix of dry goods stores, saloons, hotels and restaurants. Quincy became home to a number of the finest pioneer leaders in business, law and trade. Today, Quincy continues to recognize and honor her German heritage. In 1990, 56 percent of Quincyans claimed German ancestry. “Calftown,” a portion of the southwest section of town appropriately named because every home in the area was said to have had a cow in the yard in the mid-1800s, is also known as the South Side German National Historic District. We have a close and long-standing Sister City relationship with Herford, Germany, from where many of our ancestors originated, and we celebrate our German heritage with Germanfest and Oktoberfest celebrations each year. Quincy was named after President John Quincy Adams. Early in 1825, the Illinois Legislature created a new county in West Central Illinois and named it Adams. A commission named the existing village as county seat, calling it Quincy, and to complete the use of his name, the public square was called “John’s Square.” Visitors called Quincy “a gem of a city.” Flour and saw mills flourished, for the fertile soil yielded excellent crops of grain; game was abundant; oak, hickory and walnut timber came in quantity from the forests that were cut down to make way for the expanding community; and trade flourished. That nickname, “The Gem City,” is still reflected in our community today in company names, television and radio station call letters, and our summer collegiate league baseball team. Just more than a decade old, Quincy was faced with its first human rights issue when the question of slavery became a growing issue across the country. Just across the Mississippi River, Missouri was a slave state, but most of Quincy’s earliest settlers came from the Northeastern United States bringing with them strong antislavery inclinations. Quincy was bold in its conviction and hospitable in its actions. VINTAGE PHOTOS COURTESY OF QUINCY PUBLIC LIBRARY, HISTORIC QUINCY AREA PHOTO COLLECTION 4 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY quincychamber.org In 1836, Rev. Dr. David Nelson founded the Mission Institute that operated Quincy’s best known Underground Railroad Station, Mission Institute #1, just north of present day Madison Park. The Underground Railroad was an informal, secret system of aiding fugitive slaves by passing them along from “station to station” until they reached Canada and freedom. The Underground Railroad lasted in Quincy from the early 1830s to the late 1840s. Again showing their willingness to aid the most vulnerable of people, the residents of Quincy acted as a refuge to individuals of the Mormon faith escaping persecution in Missouri during the winter of 1838-39. The city of Quincy sheltered 5,000 members of the Church at a time when the city’s own population numbered only 1,500. Today, the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints still remember Quincy as a city of people that gave them refuge in when they faced the direst of circumstances. As the largest community in the area, Quincy became the political center for the region. Founder John Wood became the 12th Governor of Illinois in 1860. Stephen Douglas was elected to congress and later to the Senate. On October 13, 1858, as the country was still grappling with the question of slavery, the sixth of the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates was held in John’s Square, which is now Washington Park. More than 15,000 people are said to have crowded the square to hear Lincoln draw from Douglas the admission that he favored permitting the states to settle the question of slavery within their borders, a position that won election to the Senate for Douglas, but two years later went far toward electing Lincoln to the presidency. With the advent of railroads in Illinois, the center of activity swung away from the river, but while other cities have surpassed it in size, Quincy remains the largest city in an area of 100 miles in all directions and has positioned itself as the regional retail and medical hub for a population of more than 250,000 residents. quincychamber.org 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY 5 Quincy Today After 175 years, Quincy is a modern and progressive city in the heart of a large and fertile agricultural area. We have a diverse business community, made up of hundreds of small companies, global manufacturers and nonprofit agencies. More than 40 percent of our businesses are owned by women. Cost of living for our 40,000+ residents is lower than in the big cities. More than 60 percent of our residents own their homes; the average price of a single-family dwelling is $138,000. Fiber connection to the internet is available for both commercial and residential properties. Our workforce is strong. Twenty-four percent of our population age 25 and older have bachelor degrees or higher, and the average household income is more than $48,000 per year. Nearly 12 percent of our population are minorities. Wide tree-lined streets and historic homes remind visitors of days gone by. Parks are within proximity to all residential areas, and travel to anywhere in the city can take place in only 15 minutes. Strong public and private school systems and churches of every faith support family life. The fine arts are appreciated and cultivated. Here, residents have the best of both worlds: access to most of the amenities of the big city with the safety, work ethic and more relaxed pace of smaller town living. Patriotism runs through our blood. Quincy proudly boasts of having the largest Veterans Homes in the state of Illinois. Caring for nearly 600 residents from all over the state, the facility is a community unto itself. The home provides medical, recreational, religious and social services for its residents. The grounds, including the All Wars Museum and deer park, are open to the public. Quincy area residents are also strong supporters of the Honor Flight program. And, we are busy people! International organizations such as Altrusa, Exchange, Kiwanis, Lions, Optimists and Rotary, have active service clubs in our area. Nearly 200 other associations allow residents to share their passions. We have organizations for the arts, animal lovers, community development, nature lovers, fitness gurus, personal and professional development, and so much more. And, if we don’t have a group that shares your hobby, you can start one! We have a raceway, nearby county fairgrounds, a summer collegiate baseball team called the Quincy Gems and five golf courses. Civil War re-enactments take place in our Riverview Park, local farmers bring their goods to sell at the Farmers Market, visitors can feed the ducks that live in South Park, and the Quincy • Urgent Care PET SERVICES Park Band provides musical KLINGELE • Vaccinations VETERINARY CLINIC entertainment every week • Surgery • Advanced Orthopedic Care during the summer months. • Pain Management • Advanced Dental Care Quincy is the kind of place • Animal Services • Over 200 years combined where going the extra mile is • Oncology experience an everyday thing. Neighbors • Animal Rehabilitation Dr.’s Joanne Klingele, Sue Sculley, Paul Sculley, Julie Howard, Jeanie Spooner, are there for each other…right Tammy Rogers, Jill Dougherty on cue. 4601 Broadway, Quincy • (217) 223-0187 • klingelevetclinic.com 6 2019 COMMUNITY PROFILE AND MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY quincychamber.org Worship and Faith Quincy’s faith community has been an integral part of the city’s identity from the beginning. Quincy’s oldest church, the First United Congregational Church, is 10 years older than the city itself. The B’nai Sholom Temple in Quincy is one of the country’s oldest synagogues. It has been used by the congregation for more than 140 years. One of Quincy’s most notable religious figures is Father Augustus Tolton. Father Tolton was ordained in 1886 and is the first African-American Catholic priest in the United States.