DEW Line Training Site Streator Illinois

Site Photo courtesy Bob Young

Streator Illinois Train Station, August 1970, courtesy Ralph Howell

CLASS J 1, 1957 courtesy Joyce Ackerman Bartels

CLASS H, Jul - Sep 1956 courtesy Lynden T. (Bucky) Harris

The Plumb Hotel circa 1965

About the Plumb Hotel it is said that the notorious gangster Al Capone and his crowd frequently drove down from Chicago and would stay at the Plumb. It was the most elegant hotel in town at that time. So it is quite possible that in future years many Dewliners were billeted in a room used by ol' Scarface himself! This is a bit of trivia of which probably 99.9% of Dewliners are unaware.

Clive Beckmann

Streator Revisited September 2002
By Ed Groelle

I had an opportunity a couple of days ago to swing by Streator and decided to look up the old training center. I had gone back in about 1992 and found it by looking for the antennas. I didn't expect to see the dome anymore and I was correct. I had to stop a couple of elderly people and ask if they remembered the old site. Some thought it was completely demolished. I found some who remembered and they directed me to the general vicinity because to tell the truth I'd forgotten where it was. I couldn't even remember which direction it was from Streator. For anyone interested it is south of Streator just off of Hwy 17. I went to the area and stopped at a farmhouse and the lady there thought it might be a few miles down the road. It was much further away from Streator than I had remembered. I was also hampered by corn growing everywhere which obstructed the view.

I finally saw the Comm dish out in a corn field and stopped to talk with a farmer who was painting a fence near the site. Turned out he was the owner of the farm and the training site. His father had owned the farm when the Dewline was in operation. He said the training center ceased operations in 1982 and he was allowed to buy it back with the buildings. He uses the compound for storage and now has turkeys inside the fence. In 1992 when I was there last time he had sheep grazing in the area. The geodetic radome was sold in 1986 and is now somewhere in Colorado.

Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

The Hotel pictures were taken in about ten years ago. You can see it has fallen on hard times. It was not much when we were billeted there. The Dewline people probably kept it alive way pass its sell date. I remember we used to call it the Tiltin' Hilton. I don't know if the building is still standing or not. I didn't have time to look for it.

Hotel Photo 1 Hotel Photo 2

Streator looks rather rundown and doesn't seem to have shared in the 90's economy boom. Lots of businesses are boarded up. The people are unbelievably friendly as always. It was very pleasant to discover that had not changed. I went to a downtown restaurant in the hopes of getting some turtle which, as I recall, was on every diners menu at the time I was trained there. Found out it is only served on Friday nights and usually has to be ordered ahead. I did talk with the owners who did all the cooking from scratch, including the pies. Had one of the best restaurant meals I've had in a long time.

Ed Groelle