People Shape Naperville
Stephen Scott and his son, Willard, were the first to settle along the DuPage River in 1830, but the first settlers in DuPage County were Bailey Hobson and his wife, Clarissa, and their children. In 1831, Joseph Naper was a captain on the Great Lakes who gave up his seafaring ways to move west to the Illinois frontier with his wife, Almeda, and their children, his brother, John, and several other families from Ashtabula, Ohio. They arrived on the shores of Lake Michigan at Fort Dearborn in the summer of 1831 and loaded up their wagons for the journey to what would become known as Naper's Settlement, along the DuPage River.
From the earliest settlers to today's homeowners, the spirit
of cooperation and initiative lives on and continues to shape
Naperville into a premier destination for businesses and
residents.
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Accredited by the American Association of Museums.