1920 Enumeration District 148
Precinct #1 - Decatur Township

(Sent in by Mary Louise <mlgwoodruff@yahoo.com> A Member of the Decatur Main Street Historical Committee)  

    (There were no street signs in Decatur (with exception of the four corners of the square) until 1950 at which time the Decatur Civic Association was organized and the project begun.  The Korean War was possibly the reason it was put on hold, but by the mid 1950s the Junior Chamber of Commerce was formed and it began work in earnest.  House numbers followed later.  This explains why many citizens did not know the name of the street they lived on unless they consulted a city map.

     Some of the enumerators added Street names in the margins--others did not.  Verona C. Hoyle (wife of Arthur Hoyle) was one who did.  Unfortunately, she mislabeled several streets.  For example, on p. 2B of the 1930 census, she lists Lester Bell & family, James (Venor) Patterson & family and others as living on S. Cates St., but they were on S. Hill St.  South Cates Street is one street to the east of Hill St. and it dead ends into the old Decatur High School property.  On page 3A and 3B (also 1930) she lists the street as S. Main St. instead of S. Trinity. (Main Street runs East and West)  On page 7A she names the street N. Main instead of N. Trinity (same problem).  On page 12B she has the correct street name but refers to it as West Lange St. instead of South Lange St. (That street is at present called Lane Street, which was the result in an error made by the J.C.s when they ordered those signs).  These are only a few of the errors made by Mrs. Verona Hoyle.  Another enumerator, Mrs. Annie Ford Milligan NEVER put down street names, but I don't think she was worried about entering all of the names on one street, but was more intent on filling a page.  Her handwriting was very legible and her records were thorough.)