C L Hills was a long time resident of Bloomington before he purchased and ran the Hills Hotel. He came to Saybrook from Ohio as a child in 1871 with his parents. Before owning the hotel he worked in the dry goods business at the New York Store and then Livingston's. He also served in the Illinois National Guard for twenty years, rising to the rank of Captain and leading Troop B in the Spanish American War, as did two previous subjects, Edward and Robert Butler.
In 1911 he purchased the Stephen Smith home at Jefferson
and Lee Streets and remodeled that home for his family. He converted the barn on the property into a lodge where he could entertain in a manly way.
Cleon Hills was the owner/manager of the Hills Hotel, one of the most elegant establishments of the time. He began this work at the turn of the century after the close of the Spanish American War.
The Hills family moved from Bloomington sometime before 1930 to Los Angeles, California. Photos for this posting are from Illustrated Bloomington, 1917.