with Alexander Campbell, and the Spring Valley Town Site Co. Backed by the almost unlimited resources of the coal barons, these two companies spent over $2 million in less than four years in the building of the town. The boring of the mine commenced in 1884 and the town surveyed and platted. Spring Valley did not grow from a crossroads country store or framehouse, it was planned with the hope it would grow to be a large city. Space was set aside for churches, schools and public buildings and broad streets were laid out. St. Paul Street became one of the widest streets in the state and in 1984 made even wider. In the residential section of the city property line, lies from curb and ample room for expansion. Spring Valley was a boom town, its growth was so rapid that it was called the "Magic City." In less than four years, by 1888, the Chicago North Western railroad had laid a line from DeKalb, Illinois, four mines had been sunk and the town had 3,000 people. Violent strikes There were large-scale violent strikes in the late 1880s. Italian coal miners in the 1890s brought in anarchism, and the violence escalated during the depression of 1893-96. The strikes were failures but the angry miners voted for the Populist ticket in 1894. In August 1895, Spring Valley experienced the state's most destructive race riot to date, out of which came major legislation prohibiting companies from bringing in squads of men to replace existing workers. Tension between mine owners and union agitators led to a lockout in 1889. Many Italian immigrants arrived to cross the picket lines but eventually staged their own strike in 1894, encouraging the industry to bring in African Americans to break the strike. Relations between the races rapidly deteriorated, leading to the riot that ended the use of black strike breakers. Governor John Peter Altgeld's response to the August 4 attack on the black community by displaced Italian miners ultimately revealed his support of fellow immigrants over African Americans. Another riot erupted in 1895 when recent Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, and Belgian immigrants raided the black section of town and burned, looted, and injured 14 blacks. Black victims of the riot took their attackers to court and used their status as citizens to win the case against the new immigrants. Spring Valley remained a brawling, boisterous place and until