The News-Gazette.com: Rankin: Where close still counts

Rankin: Where close still counts

By Meg Thilmony

Sunday, January 14, 2007

It's barely a blip at the northwest corner of Vermilion County. Barely a wide spot in the road at the intersection of state highways 9 and 49.

It has a gas station, two churches, two bars and a post office.

But in Rankin, where legendary boxer Joe Louis walked uptown by day and gangster John Dillinger slept by night, a strong sense of community remains.

Maggie Diskin, like many other retirees in Rankin, looks out for those around her.

"Everyday, I check on my neighbors and make sure there's some activity at their place," Diskin said. "I know other people in other neighborhoods do the same thing; just keep an eye on people."

Helen Johnson's noticed it, too.

"Everybody kind of looks out for the next guy," she said. "Everybody pitches in when there's trouble and ... when there's a death, everybody shows up and brings food."

The town might not have a grocery store, but it takes two days to celebrate the Fourth of July, and its fireworks display, which lasts 30 to 45 minutes, is said to be among the most spectacular in the area.

This a community with a 2007 calendar published by the Rankin Library that bears the birthdays of its residents.

One of the downtown bars opens its doors each Tuesday morning to a klatch of four to six women who just want to get together to visit over a cup of coffee. A thriving Lion's Club hosts monthly dinners, and the two local churches team together to host tutoring nights for local youngsters.

And if an elderly person doesn't answer the phone, a neighbor is dispatched to the home, lifelong resident Karen Stone said.

"People are close here," said Beverly Overbey, who oversees the library.

Booming beginnings

Rankin, which got its name from land owner David Rankin, was officially established in in 1872. Soon, the thriving community was home to a hotel, several churches and a bank.

By 1925, Rankin was such an important railroad town that it had an 11-stall roundhouse and repair shop. And Johnson, former editor of the Rankin Independent, remembers nights full of fun.

"They'd set up a temporary roller rink, and we used to go out and skate,"Johnson said. "We had free movies and band concerts, like all other small towns."

But trouble came in the 1930s with the Great Depression, when farming couldn't support Rankin's citizens.

That's also when the Nickel Plate Railroad closed its division headquarters, roundhouse and shops. Newspaper reports from 1954 state that almost 300 people from Rankin followed the railroad to Frankfort, Ind., or other towns to find work.

The last passenger train came through Rankin in 1951, according to the town's centennial commemorative book.

After the roundhouse was razed and the depot stood empty, civic leaders struggled to find ways to preserve the town. In 1949, the Extension Service of the University of Illinois selected Rankin for an experiment in soil conservation. It was designed to aid the area's economy.

And citizens did their best to help, too. Thirty Rankinites participated in a community minstrel cast in the early 1950s. The show traveled through area towns and put on musical performances to support Rankin's recreation fund, including maintenance of a ball diamond and to raise money to send local youngsters to swim lessons in Hoopeston.

"That went on for several years, and they traveled all over," Johnson said of the minstrels. "It was very successful for at least 10 years. They had a big attendance at all the shows."

By 1960, residents were confident that Rankin was growing, not shrinking.

A story in The News-Gazette reported the opening of a fertilizer company. The town boasted a bowling alley, a hardware store, an automatic laundry and an egg grading station.

David Hofbauer, who grew up in Rankin, remembers running uptown for a candy bar during his lunch break from school in the 1960s. The town drugstore provided vivid memories.

"They had a soda fountain and a bar where you could get a hamburger and fries, just like you saw in the old days," Hofbauer said.

And Rankin residents partied hard in 1972 for the town's centennial celebration. Television star Rosemary Prinz, who portrayed Penny Hughes on the soap opera "As The World Turns," served as the grand marshal for the centennial parade and attended a reception at Diskin's home. The entire weekend's worth of festivities brought wandering Rankinites back to town and produced a parade so long that it nearly wrapped around the diameter of the town.

Harsher realities

But the town's heyday might be in the past. Many residents say they are sad to see what has become of their town. Several homes are abandoned and deteriorating; some older residents say they fear the values of their homes is eroding.

The former Rankin Township High School stands with its roof fallen in and windows broken; the owner and his family reportedly live in the gymnasium.

Rankin's high school district was deactivated in 1987 after years of discussion about consolidating with other districts. The grade school district followed soon after, and all Rankin students are bused to Hoopeston.

"It all went downhill when we lost the school," Johnson said. "You have to go out of town for everything."

When the bank and the grocery store left within the last few years, the people say, the town suffered again. The downtown has several vacant store fronts. The Rankin Superama on Main Street is boarded up.

"It's sad," Diskin said.

Randy Hendricks, whose the third generation in Hendricks Construction, grew up in Rankin but moved to Paxton when the Rankin schools closed.

"But it'll always be home to me," Hendricks said.

Stone, now manager of the Casey's on the south edge of town, said a bond of friendship still exists among the longtime Rankinites.

And that's why she doesn't think she'll ever leave.

"My heart's here and always will be," she said. "No matter what happens."

News-Gazette regional editor Rebecca Mabry contributed to this story.