The town has a large population of members of the Apostolic Christian faith, who first settled in the area in 1864.

It consisted of twenty-six blocks, each divided into fourteen to sixteen lots.

Caleb Patton owned the land that the original town was built on and advertised lots for sale, attracting other people to live there.

When Patton heard that Chanute wanted to build a railroad in the area's general direction, he saw it as an opportunity to make use of his otherwise deserted land and struck a deal.

Patton gave a small chunk of the land to the Baptist Church and set aside an area for the railroad and a depot.

However, when Chanute reached Fairbury, he was met by a group of armed citizens.

They had even received an injunction from Pontiac, Illinois forbidding Chanute from building a railroad through the town.

In the darkness and secretly, he moved his crews back; and the next morning, at first dawn; and reinforced by armed guards of his own, he was ready for business.

To the consternation of the dumbfounded and helpless villagers, he rushed the track straight through the town and the courthouse was closed.

He built the Arcade Block in another section, which were a series of brick buildings connected to each other.

A new railroad was being considered, and Marsh used his power to see that it passed through only the west side of Fairbury and not through the east.

The power that the two men held in the town quickly died down, as did the feud between the east and west sides of Fairbury.

He ultimately prevailed and continued using his name on his restaurant despite objections by the franchise.