Illinois Beatle in Benton
This photo provided by Grady Adams shows the house at 113 McCann Street in Benton, Illinois, where a then-unknown George Harrison stayed while visiting his sister in September 1963, months before the Beatles debuted in the U.S., which is now for sale and some Beatles fans fear it will be razed. (Grady Adams via AP)
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In September 1963, before Beatlemania, George Harrison visited his sister in the southern Illinois town of Benton. He went camping, had a drive-in burger, shopped for records and bought a guitar. Fewer than five months later, Benton residents and millions of others saw Harrison with his band, the Beatles, make their American debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Now the Benton house at 113 McCann Street is for sale and Beatles fans hope a buyer doesn't raze it. In 1995, a state agency bought it to make a parking lot, but local investors stepped in to save it and ran a bed-and-breakfast for more than a decade.
