Plans to rename the Vermilion County Administration Building to the Joseph G. Cannon Building are continuing to advance. County Board Member Steve Miller says a petition drive to rename the building has reached its goal…
{AUDIO: ‘’We’ve been circulating petitions really for a couple of years because of the pandemic. It got sidetracked but Representative Marron and many other people in the community and throughout the county have been circulating petitions. And I think we finally reached the 500 required number and hope to be filing those with the County this next few weeks.’’}
{This photo is in the office of Vermilion County Treasurer Darren Duncan.}
Cannon moved to Danville in 1876 after having already served four years in Congress. He served 46 years in the U.S. House of Representatives…including serving as the Speaker of the House…
{AUDIO: ‘’He was very fondly regarded by all members of both parties and enjoyed a great reputation for honesty and thriftyness. And he was very good to Danville in bringing – what was then – the Soldiers Home to Danville, and then eventually he brought the courthouse and post office that we still enjoy today.’’}
Representative Cannon was fondly called ‘’Uncle Joe Cannon’’ by many people. When he retired from Congress in 1923 his picture was on the front of the very first Time Magazine one day later.
Miller says a local committee has been not only circulating petitions but also attempting to raise money…
{AUDIO: ‘’Well, we want to have some public education – raise the awareness of Joe, and make certain he doesn’t get cancelled. And we do intend to have some information, exhibits in the hallway of the former federal building – the soon to be Cannon Office Building. And we hope that people, when they come in and do business with the County, will have an opportunity to see one of our more legendary citizens.’’}
The committee is planning a celebration on March 4, 2023 to mark the 100th anniversary of when ‘’Uncle Joe’’ Cannon appeared on the front cover of Time Magazine.
There is another famous Cannon Office Building in Washington D.C. which is named after the Congressman from Danville.
