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Avey Building The Avey Building sat just north of the Congregational Church at the northeast corner of 16th and Charleston. It served as the Masonic Temple from 1904, when it was built, until the Masons constructed their new building at 15th and Charleston in the 1920’s. It also served as a passenger station for the Interurban rail line connecting Mattoon and Charleston. Older photos clearly show the vertical Interurban sign on the northwest corner of the building. In 1929, Central Illinois Public Service Company began using the building as their headquarters. They extensively remodeled the building, making it hard to recognize from its previous look, as can be seen in the second picture. In 1959, CIPS abandoned the building when they moved to South 9th Street. Mattoon Federal Savings and Loan purchased the site in September of 1965 for their new building, and tore it down. Mattoon Federal has been taken over by First Mid-Illinois Bank and Trust. This picture is taken from the same spot as the two above. Avey Building and Congregational Church Circa 1900
1940's from the same location
1960's shortly before demolition
This photo was taken from the same location as those above |
