Christian J. Hug, better known as C.J. was born in 1877 six miles East of Highland. He attended the Cornfield country school and then the Hesse and Fricker schools during his childhood. These schools were in Bond County, but in 1892, C.J. attended high school in Highland. He quit school at the age of 15. In 1901 he took correspondence courses from the International Correspondence School of Scranton, PA.

The life of C.J. Hug was an interesting one and his ventures touched the lives of most Highland citizens of that time. As a young man, he had many different jobs. He worked in a store in Pierron, sold insurance, worked as an electrician, and operated a clock factory. In 1901 he went to Oklahoma to take part in the land drawing being conducted by the federal government. He came back to Highland a year later and worked as a carpenter, eventually starting his own contracting business in 1906. One of his jobs was working on the Pet Milk building. Louis Latzer was so pleased with his work that he sent C.J. to build all of his plants for Pet Milk all over the country. C.J. went into road building in the early 1920’s and had the National Trail contract from Troy to Pocahontas. This led to the start of the Hug Truck Company. In 1922 he started production of trucks with a two-ton job, from there it was a steady succession of larger trucks, all the way up to 60,000 lb. capacity. C.J. invented the Hug truck turntable, a portable self-powered unit that could turn a truck loaded with concrete completely around between the forms set for an 18 ft. pavement. Another on-the-job invention was the Hug subgrader. But it was the Hug Special Speed truck that led to fame for C.J. and employment for thousands of people in Highland and the vicinity. This truck’s remarkable performance under actual working conditions, its economy and its practicality led to a big market. When World War II started the government leased the Hug plant here and C.J. was placed in charge. Seven hundred employees in Highland and 1,000 in Granite City did boxing and crating of government articles and reclamation work of items used by the U.S. throughout this country and overseas. Many Hug cargo trucks were sent overseas to help the war effort. By the time he discontinued manufacturing trucks in 1942, C.J. held 25 different patents on trucks.

One of the most important contributions to the city was engineering the project to pave all of the streets in Highland in 1927. He got the job done for under $400,000 and in the face of opposition from many who insisted that it couldn’t be done. He built the Louis Latzer Memorial Library, contributing his own time and plans. Nearing the age of 70, C. J. developed Park Ridge Hills subdivision and despite the shortage of materials after World War II was able to keep a steady building program going. In 1947 C. J. took over the swimming pool at Lindendale Park, remodeled it and kept it open for fifteen years. Mr. Hug served as Helvetia Sharpshooters president for many years. He was also president of the Chamber of Commerce, appointed Chairman of the State of Illinois Park Advisory Board by the governor, and was a benefactor to the Boy Scouts, Masonic Temple, Latzer Library, the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and Hug Truck baseball teams.