BEECHER — During the village’s centennial in 1970, Beecher adopted the motto of “Proud Past, Promising Future.”

You can still find the slogan on some of the community signs, but it has faded away from universal use.

Nonetheless, it is still applicable in Beecher, a community with both a history and some real progress promised in the years to come.

Beecher, located in Will County straddling Illinois Route 1, is just north of the Kankakee County-Will County Line.

The current administrator, Bob Barber, who has been on the job for 35 years, is retiring. His replacement, already at work, is Charity Mitchell, who was formerly the executive assistant at the Countryside Police Department.

Barber’s knowledge of his community is, well, historic. Beecher has a richer documented history than most towns. There is a great deal of information online at the village website and a book covering village history was published for the 1995 Quasquicentennial (125 years). Limited copies are still available at the town library. The Beecher Library, at 660 Penfield, is inside a beautiful former bank building.

The impetus for starting the town, Barber explained, was a desire to hire a constable to exert some control over local taverns. The first ordinance, written in German, passed on a Christmas Eve.

The town was named for the controversial preacher Henry Ward Beecher, who never actually set foot in the village. The Rev. Beecher was a noted supporter of the women’s right to vote, of Darwin’s theory of evolution and of the abolition of slavery. He is remembered for advocating Beecher’s Bibles to be sent to Kansas to be used against those who supported slavery.

The real founder of the town was Timothy Lathrop Miller, a Hereford cattle farmer. The location of the Chicago, Vincennes and Danville Railroad running through town also played a big role.

The depot for the line is still used as a local history museum, open from 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays. The depot had been moved out of town to Monee to serve as a gift shop for a winery, but has since returned. It now holds pioneer farming equipment.

Beecher has its share if historic buildings and then some. Notably there is the Princess Café, which started as a Stage Coach Tavern shortly after the Civil War and has been serving diners ever since at 502 Dixie Highway. Renovation work unveiled an original Pabst Blue Ribbon on the side, which still beckons customers.

The 1914 Dixie Highway, Chicago to Miami, passes through Beecher right in front of the Princess.

Beecher has 4,713 residents, Barber said. It boomed during the first few years of the 2000s, nearly doubling in size. Low interest rates and low construction costs spurred the growth.

Barber said that the mortgage crisis of 2008 put on the brakes. But there is an upside. Barber explains that Beecher has hundreds of fully improved lots for sale, with water, sewer and electricity ready today. The village sees about a dozen or more new homes built annually. Beecher works to keep its inspection and permit fees low, but they are likely to rise. Now, Barber said, is the time to build.

While a three-bedroom, full-basement ranch remains the standard, Barber notes that trends in building have shifted. The drive now is for higher quality homes, better windows, materials and appliances, rather than just a bigger square footage.

Barber said that another development has been the gentrification of the older parts of town. Families are moving into Victorians and Cape Cods and fixing them up.

Major employers include Dutch American Foods, which creates Jack Links. You see them advertised on television by Sasquatch. There is also Children’s Plus, which rebinds softcover books into hardcovers. That’s a service sought by many school districts seeking to extend the life of textbooks.

Expected in 2024 is Union Electronics, which will make components for Samsung in a 100,000 square foot building. Barber said there will be 86 jobs.

Beecher has an older downtown, and uses a Tax Increment Financing district to help lure some tenants there. There is also a newer commercial area along Illinois Route 1, including Walt’s grocery store, a McDonald’s, Subway, Dollar General and the community meeting place of Buddy’s ice Cream.

Barber said Beecher remains a desirable place because of low crime, good schools and a small-town atmosphere.

While Beecher does not have a park district, it does have an active corps of volunteers who provide services at Fireman’s Park, adjacent to the fire station in the center of town. There is a pavilion that sites as many as 300 and a full-service kitchen. One of the more unusual memorials, in Beecher or in any town, is a sculpture calling attention to those battling, to those who survived and to those who perished from cancer.

An adjacent Washington Township Community Hall near the park hosts local theater.

There are two softball fields, two baseball fields and fields for t-ball and soccer. Beecher has the ever-popular splash pad for children to cool down in the summer. For adults, there is the Cardinal Creek golf course, formerly known as Shady Lawn. A 27-hole format makes it a good location for large golf outings.

The community’s large celebration comes during the Fourth of July with a carnival, a parade and fireworks. During four or five days, there are food trucks and local dinners of pulled pork, sloppy joes, cheeseburgers and pork chops. Profits are poured back into the maintenance of the parks.

The current village president is Marcy Meyer. She is the first woman to head the village in its history. Board meetings are on the second and fourth Monday at 7 p.m. They are available on YouTube the next day.

The unit school district has three schools, K-5, a 6-8 junior high and a high school.

Beecher has a Fire Protection District that serves both the incorporated and unincorporated areas. They have two advanced life support ambulances and the department is making the transition to a paid department.

Beecher has its own police force, with a staff of 14 headed by Terry Lemming, the Illinois Police Chief of the Year. A system of license plate readers adds an extra layer of security. Funded by a bond issue, a new police station is on its way.

The community maintains its own water and sewer system. Beecher likes to control its own rates, Barber said. The sewer plant had a $10.4 million upgrade in 2020.

Also just finished was a $5.3 million overhaul of the Main Street business district. That work included curbs, gutters, street lights and a new roadway. The bridge alone, which spans Trim Creek, was a $1 million project.