Roselle- Kippis05's very first CJ

[Kippis05 2]

Hi everyone, and welcome to my new and very first CJ. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I did making it. The region itself is very simple, just one medium sized city tile surrounded by 32 small tiles, but enough with the tile mumbo jumbo. First off, a little (or long), history of the Roselle area.

On March 11, 1833 the first settlers, Silas L. Hinkley and his brothers Harvey and Lyman, arrived in Hillview Township. The Hinkley's claimed about 1200 acres of timber land - some of the land was granted by the government and some was purchased for $1.25 per acre. The Hinkley's only neighbors for the first year were the friendly Pottawatomie. In 1837, Deacon Elijah Hough and his wife Electa came to the Hillview area with their ten year old daughter Cornelia, and their two sons Oramel and sixteen year old Rosell (Rosell's name was spelled without an "e" on the end).

The Hinkley Residence, still standing strong since it 

was built in 1834, in this shot taken in 2003.

After spending three years in the Hillview area, Rosell and Oramel went to South Haven for work. Oramel was a butcher and Rosell a foreman at a meat packing company. In 1850, Rosell built his own packing house on Halsted and Orange Streets. He received a large contract for supplying beef to the English troops fighting in the Crimea during the Russian war. From 1855 to 1856, Rosell was elected to serve as a South Haven alderman. He joined the Union Army in 1861 and achieved the rank of colonel. After the Civil War, Colonel Hough became the first president of the Chamber of Commerce in Hillview. When President Lincoln was shot, his body arrived by train to Hillview on the way to Chicago. Rosell Hough was asked to lead the funeral procession through the city. It was estimated that 3,700 marched and 50,000 lined Hillview's streets.

The first Main Street shops, photo taken in 1923.

In 1868, at the age of 48, Rosell retired from business in South Haven and returned home. He discovered Roselle was the thriving center of a rich farming district and purchased land to grow flax. He opened the Illinois Linen Company on the northwest corner of Roselle and Turner Park Roads. Rosell Hough was the first president of the fledgling Chicago and Pacific Railroad Company and he was in a position to influence the route of the railroad. He saw future growth for his linen mill if the train route would come through Hillview, Itasca, Medinah, and Roselle instead of Crescent Hill and Bloomingdale. It is rumored that he paid $10,000 to have the survey changed so the train line would go through Roselle. Old newspaper clippings state that the Chicago and Pacific named the station stop Roselle after its first president. It may be that the railroad, when printing the initial train schedule, misspelled Hough's first name, thus giving the town the Roselle spelling that’s known today.

The previous shops were torn down to make way for Main Street 

Station, built in 1955.

Here are some random shots from about town:

The WLGT radio station aptly named "The Light", nestled inside the Creighton Neighborhood District.

A small shopping center in the Riverside District.

The corner of Stanton and Olcott Streets

Morning from the Riverside District, a few minutes west of Downtown.

I’m also going to take on crazychickensc12’s concept of creating a database for all of the mods and BAT’s you’ll see in my Journal, so if you want any of these downloads, you’ll know exactly where to find them on the STEX.

Thanks for taking the time to join in the Roselle Community, and I hope you enjoy your visit.

-Kippis05

Mayor and Alderman of Roselle Township

Roselle: Vintage Charm, Contemporary Spirit

 

 

[jacqulina 162]

hi my friend now thats a great introduction to your cj,and a great history,i cant wait to see more.nice little pics to go with the history,i like the story

[ky72x 13]

Awesome start to your CJ, my friend. I love the story as well as the city's layout. Keep up the awesome work!

[RushHourFreak 1]

Amazing start kippis! Just keep it up. Cant wait for more. The introduction is very interesting, I like your photoshop skills, seems we have another NorthAmercian journal on-going!

RHF

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

hey you have a cj!!! lol thats so cool. That is alot of small tiles, I would be thankful for them (since small tiles are the only thing my comp runs smoothly lol) nice story! alot of history. I like your pics too, especially the last one. Waiting for more

[Kippis05 2]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! Don't worry, a new update is coming sometime this afternoon, it'll blow you away

Signed

Good Ol' Kippis

[Menotyou 0]

That is great looking! The last picture is cool looking!

[infinitum19 0]

Nice CJ Kippis. Go for more

[cityhawk 12]

Hello, Kippis!

Nice start, my friend! The green that lines your streets gives the neighborhoods an "alive" feel which I always love to see (and you'll know that if you've seen my CJs; no, this is in no way intended to advertise my dead CJs). The history is very well written, and it makes me wonder if history is your favorite subject in school. Anyway, I look forward to more!

[Kippis05 2]

Hillview, still a small town with a big heart, sitting on the 'edge of civilization' lies just northwest of Roselle, with a population of 2,300.

Fist, some pics from about town:

Hillview still is rated top notch for its rich farming base.

A nice thriving downtown with the addition of the Holiday Inn Express in 2001 gave new life to the small town.

Another typical day... Very quiet, and beautiful...

And now the day's events:

Ah, Black Friday. Nothing like a little shopping to start out the 2006 Holiday Season right? Do a little Christmas shopping, get a coffee, and check the budget for the 2007 fiscal year; That’s all that was on my agenda for the day. Well, as the seemingly picture perfect day had carried on, we had noticed that along with the warm and quiet day after Thanksgiving was coming towards the afternoon hours, there was a disturbance to the west of the metro area. We dismissed it as just another rain storm. But God were we wrong…

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROMEOVILLE IL

ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROSELLE IL

325 PM CDT FRI NOV 24 2006

 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ROSELLE HAS ISSUED A

 

 TORNADO WARNING FOR...

 BEDFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

 DUBOIS COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

 HILLVIEW COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

 THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF ROSELLE

 RUTHERFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

 WILLIAMSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

 

 UNTIL 415 PM CDT

 

AT 321 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING

A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO NEAR HILLVIEW...MOVING EAST

AT 40 MPH. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. TAKE COVER   

NOW!!

 

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

HILLVIEW BY 330 PM CDT

 

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL

UP TO THE SIZE OF SOFTBALLS AND DESTRUCTIVE OUTFLOW WINDS IN EXCESS

OF 70 MPH.

 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT OR A STORM

SHELTER. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF

NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE

STRUCTURE IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY...ROOM OR CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR

PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

 

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A

SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE

NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

 

The weather newscasters said it wouldn’t come close enough to do significant damage to the metro area, but what about the outlying areas, especially Hillview? How big was this thing? Where was it going? The mayor’s office as well as the police network were flooded with calls from concerned citizens. It was early afternoon, Rush Hour like conditions on the roads and highways. We had to mobilize our Disaster crews, it was just too risky to hold back any longer…

 

Then, the unimaginable.

 

JIM: This is WROS News correspondent Jim Mitchell reporting live from Hillview.

 

SANDRA: Hey Jim, what can you tell us, exactly? What’s going on out there?

 

JIM: Well Sandra, it’s just pandimonium in the streets here as people are ducking for cover.. uh, we’ve got reports coming in from all over here and, it’s.. just not a pretty sight. The tornado is just massive, umm, maybe an F4, I’m not so sure, but it’s just nuts out here. Wait a minute…

 

SANDRA: What is it Jim, what’s going on?

 

JIM: Holy S***! It’s spawning a sister! Oh God, Oh my merciful Go-- *static*

 

SANDRA: Jim? JIM!? Uh, we’ll be right back---

 

The radio broadcast cut off into a long beep signaling a tornado alert. I turned off the radio and turned to the county panel. 

We had no idea what was going to happen next…

Next update coming soon...

Signed

Good Ol' Kippis

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

aaaahh!

[Cjah 15]

OH NO!!!

thats not good...and you had such a nice town going...well hopefully it can be rebuilt and better then before...

I love the name Hillview...not only cuase the last HS i went to was called that,but aslo because its a simple name that sounds pleasent....

Great start so far!

[jacqulina 162]

omg brandon that was a beautifull little town you built,i love your farms,now look its gone i cant wait to see what you do next

[cityhawk 12]

Nice photoshopped tornado! Yes, that was a very pretty little town, but will it be built to better standards after the tornado is gone? Is Jim dead? For the love of God, what about the children?!  I guess I'll have to find out next time...

P.S. Yeah, I'm overreacting! lol

[Dr.Gonzo 0]

nice twist....i couldnt live with myself destroying a village like that...looks like alot of hard work went into it :/ Nice story though, will be waiting with baited breath for an update.

[bigfatpaulie 0]

woah, that's a great photoshopped twister! Can't wait for the next update

[crazychickensc12 84]

wow awesome start, wonderful twister also!! that looks really really good!! awesome work so far on your first CJ keep it up!!

[football_fever 6]

That was a nice town you had. It captured the small town feel very well. But, as small towns do, they get hit by tornadoes. The aftermath will be interesting.

[Nardo69 51]

Good start! I really love that rural / small town feeling!

IMHO there are just way too many railroad crossings ...  (those who know me should have ewxpected this ... )

Bernhard

[Kippis05 2]

The twin tornadoes finally skipped across town and into open farmland after about 2 minutes, leaving behind a massive swath of destruction about half a mile wide. After the first tornado dissipated, the second twister, now rated an F5, was still on a killer rampage across the nothern portions of the county. 


The second tornado, now an F5, travellling across open farmland.

It was now 4:45 PM, and it was getting pretty dark. The county panel decided that the tornado wouldn't come close enough to do any more damage to the metro area, but where it was headed was anyone's guess. It was dark enough that all lights started to erupt from the buildings. The sky glowed an angry green here Downtown...

Downtown Roselle, 4:47 PM CDT

Then as quickly as it came, the killer twister dissipated between Carbell Heights and Hillview at 5:09 PM just scathing the northern sections of Roselle.

The tornado, just 12 miles north of Downtown, the shot taken from the PacWest Building.

Next update on status of the city coming later today...
Signed
Good Ol' Kippis

[RushHourFreak 1]

Great update!! TOC the banners are really cool. Looking forward to more

[jacqulina 162]

wow my friend you have destroyed all that wonderfull farmland you naught person you lol,but i cant wait to see whats coming next

[Menotyou 0]

Harsh update! A lot of farmland gone, it seems!

[cityhawk 12]

What a tornado! All the pics are good, but the ones I love the best are the downtown shot and the pic with all the bolt lightening. Nice presentation so far, as well as nice pics, and I look forward to more!

[Kippis05 2]

Thanks for the great comments everyone! And now back to business:


At about 5:10 PM, after the last tornado had dissapeared from radar screens, we looked out northwest from the 23rd floor of the National Bank and Trust Building, wondering what the hell had just happened. We turned on the news...

"This is Sandra O'Connor reporting live from Hillview, and after almost an hour or so on the ground, twin tornadoes touched down, destroying everything in their paths, killing 17 people, all of whom were caught in the streets during the onslaught, including one of our field reporters, Jim Mitchell. And what you're seeing.. is what's left, of downtown Hillview..."



As the images flickered across the screen, I dropped the remote. "Oh my freaking God... My cousin's family lives in that neighborhood..." I said to myself.
I ran from the office as the other county board members looked at each other saying "Where the hell is he going?"

I drove frantically through heavy traffic down I-19 up to Hillview. I saw the destruction, it made me sick to my stomach..
I stayed the night at a FEMA rescue shelter in one of the elementary schools. Thankfully I found my cousin and saw his family was OK. We waited till morning to go back into town...

The Next Morning, November 25th
We drove up Orange Street and looked at the devestation, almost unbearable to look at. My cousin snapped some pictures...

The site of Platt Hill Nursery, now completely gone.

Downed power lines on US Route 37.

Finally we reached his house. It was still standing, but it had suffered major damage. " S*** man, we could've been killed."
"I know, I know, but thank God it's over.. But we got a crapload of work to do."


Next update coming soon, and thankfully not about death and destruction
Signed
Good Ol' Kippis

[MadTV_Freak 0]

WOW!!! Wonderful update, Im also glad that you started a CJ, cant wait to see more

Keep up the EXCELLENT update!!!

[jacqulina 162]

awesome destruction my friend all that wonderfull building gone,looking forward to more,and very nice pics

[owenluby 1]

Oh damn! I missed the start! Anyway Kippis, this CJ is just brilliant! I love the way you carefully build the towns and farms and them use photoshop to destroy 'em!

Really great story, I was on the edge of my seat...

Can't wait for more from Good ol' Kippis,

wen

[Menotyou 0]

Great work! I like how you have real life pictures in the story, too!

[bigfatpaulie 0]

really cool pics Kippis! I wish I could photoshop like you

can't wait for that next update