Round-Up Days return yields day of fellowship, history

Thanks to everyone who joined us June 27 at Olde 90, for the celebration of America's 250th birthday and the return of Round-Up Days. The day featured a PowerPoint presentation on the Declaration of Independence, a metal-detecting demonstration by Jim Winter (facebook.com/driftlessdigger) and tours of the 1844 Charles G. Cotting House basement at 10328 N. Main St. (dubbed Olde No. 90). The energy and enthusiasm for local history was palpable, and a positive signal for what may lie ahead!

According to the McHenry County Conservation District, the threshing barn on its W.A. McConnell Farmstead has “deteriorated to a point that it may fall." Above, pictures (from left) are from 2018, 2025 and winter 2026. According to MCCD's 2020 Historic Structures Stabilization Report:

"Back in 1835, William Alexander McConnell became the first settler in Richmond. W.A. McConnel is credited as being the founder of Richmond although he was closely followed by a handfull of other settlers. His first night was spent camped under the old oak tree that still stands near the house which is also a witness tree used by the surveyors in 1837 as a reference point. Shortly after William came to this tract of land, he built a log cabin for his family, consisting of his wife, Elizabeth, and their three sons, John, George, and A.B. Soon after arriving in 1835, he also built a large (for back then) hand-hewn barn that was used as a threshing barn for wheat, the primary initial crop in this area."

James Lewan, an experienced forensic engineer and owner of Chicago-based J28, LLC, completed a structural engineering report for the circa 1850 George Street bridge last fall, courtesy of Landmarks Illinois. 

• Many deck boards are warped, cupped, damaged, loose or missing.

• The guardrails are bent or loose.

• While the limestone support walls generally are in good condition, there are cracks.

• The sill beams – believed to be cut from hearty southern yellow pine – are generally in fair condition. However, they show signs of age.

• Many of the fasteners between heavy timber members are corroded or missing.

• The most significant deterioration was “end grain” decay on the sill beams and stringer beams. Sill beams rest on top of the foundation walls. In bridge construction, stringers are lightweight, longitudinal beams that lie parallel to the bridge's length. They are the primary members the deck rests on.

Recommended repairs include:

• Replacing the existing corroded fasteners with new stainless-steel fasteners.

• Repairing the loose guardrail posts.

• Replacing the sill beams at both limestone stem walls and repoint the walls.

• Replacing half of the sill beams supporting the pedestrian extension to the north.

• Repairing half of the stringer beam ends.

• The bents –which transfer weight from the bridge's superstructure down to the foundation – are generally in good condition. However, there is decay at the top of the southernmost pile that requires repair. Piles are the long, vertical structural columns driven into the ground to support a bridge's foundation.

• Remove and replace the deck boards

• Remove and replace the portions of the pedestrian extension along the grade-supported approaches.