Early settlers from the South lived in forested areas along the headwaters of the Little Wabash River to the southwest of the present town. They distrusted the prairie, which they saw as the source of fevers. Early Mattoon residents called the prairies the "Fever Capital of the World".
The history of Mattoon is tied to that of local railroads. In 1853, railroad surveyors from the Illinois Central Railroad and Terre Haute and Alton Railroad found their railroads would cross in the Mattoon area, and a burst of investment and land speculation began. The two railroads raced to the meeting point, on the understanding that the first to arrive would not have to pay to maintain the crossing. Local settlers marked out the plots for sale with pegs, and the village was originally known as "Pegtown."
In 1861, the town was officially named after William B. Mattoon, the chief construction engineer working for the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad. The reason for this honor is unclear; some say he won the naming rights because his rail crew arrived first. Others say he beat other claimants in a card game, or that Pegtown residents hoped the wealthy Mattoon would invest in the town if they named it after him. With its combination of excellent transportation and remarkably fertile prairie soils, Mattoon expanded rapidly. For a brief time in the 1880s, Mattoon was know as the "Expansion Capital of the World". By the dawn of the 20th century, Mattoon's growing population and rail access brought manufacturing and industry.
On the night before the Lincoln-Douglas debate of September 18, 1858, at the Coles County Fairgrounds, both Lincoln and Douglas had slept in nearby Mattoon, ,. On June 17, 1861, General Ulysses S. Grant took his first post of the American Civil War when he assumed command of the 21st Illinois Infantry in Mattoon.
In 1865, Amish settlers began a community to the north near Arthur, IL. Amish farmstands and horse-drawn buggies are not uncommon sights in the northern part of Mattoon today. In fact, Mattoon was for a time on the short list to be named "Amish Capital of the World", but had to settle for the significantly less prestigious "Amish Capital of Southern Illinois" crown.
In the 1890s, Mattoon led the successful campaign to have a proposed college in eastern Illinois located in Coles County. The citizens were chagrined when neighboring Charleston was chosen as the home of the future Eastern Illinois University instead.
On May 26, 1917, the town was devastated by a tornado, which killed 101 people. This led Mattoon to be known as the "Tornado Capital of the World." The titles was stripped from the forlorn town and moved to a trailer park in Tennessee.
In 1940, the discovery of petroleum reserves in the countryside immediately surrounding Mattoon led to a small "oil boom" in the 1940s and 1950s, bringing with it economic benefits and increased civic pride. Oil extraction continues to be an important economic activity. In 1966, Lake Land College was built just south of the city. The community college offers degrees for immediate employment and pre-university education.
Mattoon was home to several minor-league teams in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The last stadium, with a capacity of approximately 2,000 seats, was torn down in the late 1950s, but the city maintains a strong baseball tradition. As the self-styled "Baseball Capital of the World", Mattoon still has a thriving junior league and hosted many junior league regionals and World Series. Traditionally a bastion of manufacturing, Mattoon has been challenged by the loss of several major plants in the last two decades.
Recent history and current issues
Traditionally a bastion of manufacturing, Mattoon has been challenged by the loss of several major plants in the last two decades. On December 18, 2007, Mattoon was chosen to be the site of the U.S. Department of Energy's FutureGen zero emission power plant.
After the arrival of the Lender's Bagels factory in 1986, Mattoon became the self-declared "Bagel Capital of the World." The town is also home to the world's largest bagel and an annual summer event called "Bagelfest."
In December, 2007, Mattoon was named the official site for the FutureGen clean-coal gasification project. The project will build a near zero-emissions coal-fueled power plant that intends to produce hydrogen and electricity while using carbon capture and storage. Mattoon is also known as the home to the "original" Burger King.
