Decatur, Illinois, once processed a third of the world's soybeans
For much of the 20th century a mid-sized city on the Sangamon River proudly called itself the Soybean Capital of the World. The grain processor A. E. Staley popularised soy oil, meal and flour there, and local businessmen even founded a Soy Capital Bank in 1955 to cash in on the nickname.
Founded in 1829 and named after the War of 1812 naval hero Stephen Decatur, the city was the first Illinois home of Abraham Lincoln, whose family settled just to the west in 1830. A marker claims the 21-year-old gave his first political speech there. Later, as a circuit lawyer, he argued five cases in its log courthouse, and at the state Republican convention held in Decatur in May 1860 he won his first endorsement for president as the Railsplitter Candidate.
Local ingenuity produced a household staple. In 1900 entrepreneur Robert R. Montgomery patented the Fly-Killer, a springy piece of wire netting on a handle and the first modern fly swatter. On April 6, 1866, the Grand Army of the Republic, a fraternity of Union veterans, founded its very first post in Decatur, and the city later won an All-America City Award in 1960.
Hard times have been frequent. A tanker of isobutane collided with a boxcar in a rail yard on July 19, 1974, and the blast killed seven people and injured 349. Firestone closed its tyre plant in December 2001, laying off all 1,500 workers, and in 2014 the agribusiness giant ADM moved its top management to Chicago.
Population has slid accordingly. From a high of about 94,000 in 1980, Decatur fell to 76,122 at the 2010 census and 70,522 by 2020, earning a place among the fastest-declining large cities in the country. It still processes farm commodities, hosts Millikin University, and sits beside Lake Decatur, a reservoir formed by damming the Sangamon in 1923.
Source: Decatur, Illinois
