A new history of McLean County is coming. It's the first such comprehensive book in more than a hundred years. And it's the first to situate central Illinois residents amid broader global and national moments (other than the civil war). The history of Mclean County is more than just Abe Lincoln, Beer Nuts, and State Farm. There's this massacre of native Americans too which happened in 1730 when two French fur trading companies got into a competition and used different native tribes as proxies. Plus Historian Greg Koos chronicles labor, suffrage, and immigration in his new book Freedom, Land, And Community: a History of McLean County 1730-1900.
Charlie Schlenker was a senior reporter at WGLT. He retired in September 2026.