Sullivan’s Victory Arch-A Brief Tribute to Veterans By Ellen Ferrera for the News Progress Next year in February Moultrie County will celebrate its 175th anniversary of incorporation (1843). Sullivan was incorporated in 1850. There are various plans afoot for a celebration and, in that spirit, we revisit stories of Sullivan’s interesting past. The famous Arc d’Triomphe in Paris was commissioned in 1806 after the victory of Austerlitz but was completed between 1833 and 1836. One of the world’s most beautiful monuments, it is 164’ high, 148’ wide and 22’ deep. It was used for victory and Bastille Day parades until Armistice Day, 1920, when the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was erected under the arch. Parades now go around the arch rather than under it. A biplane was actually flown under the primary vault in 1919. Meanwhile, back in Sullivan, Illinois in 1919 a fund was started to build a welcome arch for our returning local servicemen. It looks suspiciously like the famous Paris arch. Located in the NW corner of the square, it was built of wood and wallboard and was the most elaborate structure of its kind in central Illinois. Work was completed shortly before July 4, 1919 when a big celebration was held honoring the returned veterans. There was still a deficit of $100 for building the arch so several local citizens paid the sum with the understanding that when the structure was torn down, they would get the material for salvage. Our arch had a short history. The top of the structure was seriously damaged the following November by a prairie wind storm and the structure had to be torn down. The merchants who had made up the deficit drew lots to see who would get the material. A. D. Miller was the winner. I appreciate Pat Cribbet at the Historical Society for her invaluable assistance in the preparation of this article. I have become a regular at this incredible repository of all things Moultrie County — and so should you!