"Phelps, Mattoon, and Barnes." The reason for the 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. By the dawn of the 20th century, Mattoon's growing population and rail access brought manufacturing and industry. 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. The flagpole from General Grant's camp was preserved and is on display at the Mattoon Public Library. In 1865, Amish settlers began a community to the north near Arthur. Amish farm stands and horse-drawn buggies are not uncommon sights in the northern part of Mattoon today. 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. 20th century On May 26, 1917, the town was devastated by an F5 tornado which killed 101 people and injured approximately 638 people. The tornado was Illinois's third-deadliest tornado disaster. In 1932, the Kuehne Manufacturing Co. began producing dinette sets at their new plant on the south side of Mattoon. Its early sets were wooden, but by the 1950s Kuehne was making the chromed metal breakfast-room sets so popular during that decade. The company closed in 1965. Today, Kuehne dinette sets are prized by collectors of mid-century modern furniture. The 1940 discovery of petroleum reserves near Mattoon led to a small "oil boom" over the next two decades, bringing with it economic benefits and increased civic pride. Oil extraction continues to be an important economic activity. Mattoon was the site of the "Mad Gasser" attacks of the 1940s. In 1966, Lake Land College was built just south of the city. The community college offers degrees for immediate employment and pre-university education. The Burger King — unrelated to the Florida-based fast food chain Burger King — is a Mattoon restaurant whose owners claim it is the "original" Burger King. In 1968, they sued the national chain Burger King, producing a well-known case in United