The first settlers located in Chillicothe in the 1830's, about the same period the Native Americans were pushed out of the area. River transportation provided the impetus for the community's growth. Flour milling was the initial industry, but the inns, and eventually shops and stores were the nucleus around which the community was formally established. Chillicothe, originally platted in 1836, reclines lazily along the Illinois River on ground just high enough to escape the river when it floods.

Chillicothe was formally incorporated in 1873, which instigated a period of prosperous growth. The last turn of the century was a very vibrant period in the Chillicothe River Valley. The river and the railroads readily transported agricultural products to market, and imported merchandise, shoppers and visitors to our business district.

Railroads have been a major factor in the growth of Chillicothe. The Rock Island Railroad began operations in the 1840's with service to Chicago by the 1850's. By the late 1880's, Santa Fe service from Chicago to the West Coast was operating on a regular Basis. The Railroad Bridge crossing the Illinois River at Chillicothe, built in 1931, has a span, 440 feet long, fixed truss, the longest in the entire Santa Fe System.