Decatur’s birth
of the Bears
2019 marked the 100th anniversary since the Chicago Bears were founded in Decatur.
Here’s a look back at the team’s roots …
Chicago Bears video
A.E. Staley is born in Julian, North Carolina. He left farming and started a food-selling business at 16, eventually selling starch. It was the start of what would be a global empire now owned by the company Tate & Lyle.
A.E. Staley
EARLY 1900s
A.E. Staley Manufacturing Co. of Baltimore buys the former Pratt Cereal Oil Co. plant in Decatur from American Glucose Co. "We will at once begin making plans for rearranging the plant," Staley told the Sunday Review.
1909
The company, which had been in expansion mode, is relocated to Decatur. Twenty years later, the Art Deco office building on Eldorado Street is constructed and becomes known as the “Castle in the Cornfields.”
1910
Staley starts a company baseball team to promote teamwork and camaraderie. A year later, a basketball team is founded.
1917
The Staley Pump House & Fellowship Club is created. Staley creates a company football team. The first game is against the Peoria Tractors.
1919
1920s
1867
George Halas joins the company and the Staley baseball and football clubs. A star University of Illinois athlete, he is a player/coach of the football team and later becomes a pioneer in the sport.
1920
Halas meets with representatives of 11 other clubs in Canton, Ohio, and helps form the American Football Association. Membership costs $100.
DECATUR STALEYS
MORE ON GEORGE HALAS
Halas “is learning the starch business and started in at the bottom, hoping to work his way up and into a good position.”
— Bill Penhallegon, Decatur Herald, March 25, 1920
1921
During an economic downturn, Staley could not underwrite the team and they relocated to Cubs Park. “Mr. Staley gave me $5,000 to move the team to Chicago and call them the Staleys for one year,” Halas recalled. Team wins first championship of the newly formed National Football League.
CHICAGO STALEYS
Franchise is renamed the Chicago Bears.
CHICAGO BEARS
1922
MORE BEARS FACTS
1956
“Staley Day” is celebrated at Wrigley Field in Chicago at the Bears’ Oct. 21 game against the Baltimore Colts in honor of A.E. Staley Manufacturing’s 50th anniversary.
MORE ON EARLY PLAYERS
A.E. Staley dies in 1940 at the age of 73 in Florida. He is buried in Fairlawn Cemetery in Decatur. His Arts and Crafts home in Decatur later becomes a museum.
1940
STALEY DA BEAR
The team moves to Soldier Field from Wrigley Field.
Halas is elected president of the National Football Conference as NFL and AFL merge.
1971
1970
The Bears occupy a $1.6 million new headquarters named Halas Hall on Lake Forest College campus.
1979
1970s
Halas dies in his Chicago home.
He had been ill with heart disease and pancreatic disease. He was 88. His daughter, Virginia McCaskey,
owns the team.
1983
The 100th anniversary of the Bears being founded in Decatur. The team hosts “Return to Decatur” at the Decatur Civic Center in June, 2019, featuring Bears players and Chairman George H. McCaskey, grandson of George Halas.
2019
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE: TAKE THE BEARS QUIZ
Star end for the University of Illinois and Great Lakes Navy team
Up close:
George Stanley Halas
Briefly played right field for the New York Yankees
Was working for Burlington Railroad in 1920 when recruited by Staley general manager G.E. Chamberlain to organize employee athletics
Would coach the Bears for 40 seasons
Had undefeated regular-season records in 1934 and 1942
Won six NFL titles
The George Halas Trophy is given to the winner of the NFC championship game
The initials “GSH” are on Bears uniforms to honor Halas
The University of Notre Dame hosted the first out-of-town training camp, in 1933. They also held training camp at a Chicago high school.
Soldier Field opened in 1924 but wasn’t the home field of the Bears until 1971.
The Bears-Rams game on Nov. 2, 1958, at the Coliseum near downtown Los Angeles sets an NFL record, at 90,933 fans.
Bears fast facts
Above: Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas is hoisted on the shoulders of players in the dressing room after the team beat the Washington Redskins 73-0 in the 1940 NFL Championship game.
Chicago Tribune file photo
The memory of the Bears’ early days lives in its mascot, Staley Da Bear, a nod to founder A.E. Staley. The mascot appears during games and events, including the “Return to Decatur” event at the Civic Center in June, 2019.
Staley Da Bear premiered in 2003.
Decatur’s other legacy:
Staley Da Bear
Edward “Dutch” Sternaman
Early Staleys players
Tap for detail on players
Burt Ingwersen
Tarzan Taylor
Pete Stinchcomb
Other players of note
(not shown):
Guy
Chamberlain
Randolph Young
Jimmy Conzelman Later head coach of Chicago Cardinals and executive with St. Louis Browns baseball team; inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964
Leo Johnson
Kyle MacWherter
Jake Lanum
Walter Veech
Charlie Dressen
Born in Decatur, later manager of the Washington Senators baseball team
George Halas
Player, coach and manager of the Decatur Staleys. Later, the founder, owner, and head coach of the Chicago Bears.
George Trafton
Lennie High
Roy Adkins
Andy Feichtinger
Walter Pearce
Jack Mintun
Ross Petty
Tarzan Taylor
Also played for the Canton Bulldogs, Brooklyn Lions and the Brooklyn Horsemen
Pete Stinchcomb
Later played for the Columbus Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Louisville Colonels
Edward “Dutch” Sternaman
Was first player to sign with Staleys and later owned 50 percent of team
Burt Ingwersen
Later was coach at the University of Iowa and assistant coach at the University of Illinois
Guy Chamberlain
Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965, jersey was retired by the University of Nebraska in 2017
Test your knowledge of the Chicago Bears
Take this seven-question quiz to see if you are a Bears brainiac
START QUIZ
28
12
4
22
The Bears franchise has had how many Hall of Famers?
How much were players paid in 1920 for the season?
$1,900
$3,000
$500
$2,000
When was Cubs Park, the first home of the Bears, renamed Wrigley Field?
1922
1944
1932
1926
Who replaced George Halas as coach in 1930?
Ralph Jones
Bronko Nagurski
Link
Lyman
Joe
Kopcha
Who did the Bears beat in 1941 to win the NFL championship?
New York Giants
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Cardinals
What year did Mike Ditka become head coach?
1981
1980
1982
1985
What was the original name of Soldier Field?
Cubs Park
Municipal Grant Park Stadium
Grant Park Field
Municipal Stadium
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
28
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT
NEXT
Municipal Grant Park Stadium
OUT OF 7 CORRECT!
0
YOU GOT
RETAKE QUIZ
Herald & Review file photo
Herald & Review file photos
Herald & Review file photos
Herald & Review file photos
Herald & Review file photos
Worthpoint photo
Stayley Museum photo
Herald & Review file photo
Herald & Review file photos
Herald & Review file photo
Burt Ingwersen
Later was coach at the University of Iowa and assistant coach at the University of Illinois
Edward “Dutch” Sternaman
Was first player to sign with Staleys and later owned 50 percent of team
Pete Stinchcomb
Later played for the Columbus Tigers, Cleveland Indians and Louisville Colonels
Tarzan Taylor
Also played for the Canton Bulldogs, Brooklyn Lions and the Brooklyn Horsemen
Ross Petty
Jack Mintun
Walter Pearce
Andy Feichtinger
Roy Adkins
Lennie High
George Trafton
George Halas
Player, coach and manager of Decatur Staleys. Later, the founder, owner, and head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Charlie Dressen
Born in Decatur, later manager of the Washington Senators baseball team
Walter Veech
Jake Lanum
Kyle MacWherter
Leo Johnson
Jimmy Conzelman
Later head coach of Chicago Cardinals and executive with St. Louis Browns baseball team; inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964
Randolph Young
How much were players paid in 1920 for the season?
28
12
4
22
When was Cubs
Park, the first home
of the Bears, renamed Wrigley Field?
$1,900
$3,000
$500
$2,000
Who replaced George Halas as coach in 1930?
1922
1944
1932
1926
Who did the Bears beat in 1941 to win the NFL championship?
Ralph Jones
Bronko Nagurski
Link Lyman
Joe Kopcha
What year did Mike Ditka become head coach?
New York Giants
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Cardinals
The Bears
franchise has had how many Hall of Famers?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
$1,900
NEXT
How much were players paid in 1920 for the season?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
1926
NEXT
When was Cubs
Park, the first home
of the Bears, renamed Wrigley Field?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
Ralph Jones
NEXT
Who replaced George Halas as coach in 1930?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
New York Giants
NEXT
Who did the Bears beat in 1941 to win the NFL championship?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
1982
NEXT
What year did Mike Ditka become head coach?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
What was the original name of Soldier Field?
OUT OF 7 CORRECT!
The Bears franchise has had how many Hall of Famers?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
$1,900
How much were players paid in 1920 for the season?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
1926
When was Cubs Park, the first home of the Bears, renamed Wrigley Field?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
Ralph Jones
Who replaced George Halas as coach in 1930?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
New York Giants
Who did the Bears beat in 1941 to win the NFL championship?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
1982
What year did Mike Ditka become head coach?
THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...
Municipal Grant Park Stadium
What was the original name of Soldier Field?
Hover for detail on players
Early Decatur Staleys players
George Halas, right, helped honor the Chicago Bears' founding family with A. Rollin Staley, left, then a retired vice president of Decatur's A.E. Staley Mfg. Co., and A.E. Staley Jr., then company president.