History

Building and Industry Flourish in Naperville

The spire of SS. Peter and Paul Catholic Church pierces the sky, a luminous clock face imbedded in the towering edifice. One block east is the distinctive roof of Old Main, the first and oldest building of North Central College. These unique structures are but two of the buildings that populate Naperville and characterize what early Napervillians valued when they first arrived on the shores of the DuPage River - freedom of religion, education and a place to call home.

Kroehler Manufacturing Company
Scott's Block
Naperville Nurseries
Knoch Cigar Store

Since the town's inception in 1831, Naperville has become a thriving place of commerce, industry and learning. From the first enclave of log cabins that clustered near Mill Street and Jefferson Avenue, to today's gleaming chrome and glass office buildings arranged like glittering jewels along the East-West Tollway, Naperville continues to thrive and flourish, with a vital downtown that attracts nationally known retailers and restaurants.

After building log houses to shelter their families, the first residents built a sawmill, grist mill and trading post. Within four months of arriving, they erected a one-room schoolhouse. The first frame house was built in 1833 by George Martin, a Scottish immigrant and grain merchant, and the first post office was built by Alexander Howard in the same year.

Much as today when commercial development moves in after the rooftops appear, so too did the business owners of early Naperville. Some of the first businesses included the Naperville Plow Works, which manufactured steel plows that could cut through the thick prairie grass with ease. As the downtown area expanded to include dry goods stores, a blacksmith shop and other merchants, hotels were built, including the Pre-Emption House in 1834 and the Naperville Hotel in 1838. The first church was built in 1841, followed by many others in rapid succession.

As the downtown flourished, so did local entrepreneurs including George Martin II, who started a limestone quarry and brick and tile works. Lewis Ellsworth and Ernest Von Oven both started flourishing nurseries with international reputations. In 1870, local officials coaxed North Western College away from Plainfield. The school was dedicated and eventually the name was changed to North Central College.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Naperville could have been considered a company town because so many residents worked for Kroehler Manufacturing Company, one of the world's largest furniture manufacturers at the time.

When the East-West Tollway came through the northern portion of Naperville in the 1960s, internationally known businesses such as AT&T's Bell Telephone Laboratories followed by Standard Oil Company, Nalco and Excelon, relocated to the new high tech corridor.

In 1981, community members commemorated Naperville's 150th anniversary by starting the Naperville Riverwalk, a 4-mile, brick-paved, landscaped walkway that fronts the DuPage River. Dotted with covered bridges and distinctive shepherd's crook lampposts, the Riverwalk extends from Jefferson Avenue and winds east through downtown Naperville underneath the Washington Street bridge. It continues along an area called the east extension that borders North Central College and ends at the Hillside Road bridge. Fredenhagen Park, on Washington Street just south of Chicago Avenue, is the most recent addition to the Riverwalk.