Chester

History

Samuel Smith is said to be the town's founder because he built the first home in Chester, established a ferry system, and began the construction of a mill in 1829. The town was named after Chester, England, the city from where his wife Jane Smith was from. The first business in Chester was a general store that opened in 1830 along with a castor oil press established by R. B. Servant, who furnished farmers with seed and growing methods to later buy the beans they produced for oil extraction. This was a flourishing business until the petroleum industry made it obsolete. The first wedding in the town of Chester was held on February 4, 1834. Content Walker, the bride and Amzi Andrews, the groom held their wedding in a 16 feet square log cabin. The H.C. Cole Milling Company was founded by Nathan Cole in 1839. It started out as a small sawmill with a corn-grinding attachment which encouraged the townspeople to plant grains, and in a short time the first Cole flour mill was built. The mill still exists in Chester but it is now operated by Ardent Mills. Nathan Cole also brought the first electric generator to Chester and used the surplus of power from the mill to operate street lights. This was a modern convenience that was not even available in Chicago at that point. The generator is now on display at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. In 1916, Messrs. Bronson, Albert Gilster, Frank Wolff and John Herschbach developed the site for the International Shoe Company in the center of town where the Gilster Mary Lee Corp. is today. In 1922, a second building was built, and the company had more than 1000 employees and was producing thousands of pairs of children's shoes. During World War Two, the factory operated primarily by women produced military/combat boots for the troops…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Chester has a total area of , of which (or 99.73%) is land and (or 0.27%) is water. Part of the Middle Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge is located along the Mississippi River at Chester.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  596
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  524
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  514
• Turkey Vulture

  Cathartes aura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  421
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  397
• Red-bellied Woodpecker

  Melanerpes carolinus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  392
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  390
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  382

Largest nearby schools

• Chester Elem School
  Elementary · Chester · 616 students · 14:1 ratio
• Chester High School
  High · Chester · 323 students · 13.5:1 ratio
• Okaw Regional Voc System
  High · Chester