By Ricky Rieckert
Greetings one and all.
Board the Aurora history tour bus, as we proceed on Benton Street.
This week, heading west on E. Benton Street, the wrong way from Lincoln Avenue to Lasalle Street.
On the southwest corner was, from what I know of, the Aurora Barber College.
Owned by Roy Blackburn, many barbers, male and female, got their start there.
My mother took us there as kids, because it was only a couple of bucks.
In my late teens, it turned into Raymond’s Burritos, and I became friends with Raymond.
Today, it’s Taqueria Durango. Still good eating.
Great pastor tacos, huge burritos, burgers, pizza puffs, and great hot sauce. It’s hot, but good.
People love the french fries with any kind of meat, lettuce, tomato, and nacho cheese with pickled jalapeños.
On the northwest corner was a Mexican restaurant, named La Fagota. They had delicious meals and drinks.
Today it’s a military shop.
Moving west, to Broadway, at the northwest corner, was the Home Savings & Loan Bank.
After many years, they called it quits. Many other banks opened and closed through the next few years.
Today, the city of Aurora government owns it, and has some offices in there.
At Broadway, Benton Street becomes two-way heading west.
As we head west, we cross over the east branch of the Fox River.
Before I end this week,
I would like to reference something for the future mayor of Aurora.
Work on replacing the old train station on South Broadway.
For a City of an estimated 200,000, to go to Yuppieville (Naperville) is a sin, to board Amtrak.
Amtrak is a passenger train that runs all over the United States.
It runs on the high tracks in town.
The new station, on ground level, only takes passengers to and from Chicago.
Maybe instead of giving money to failed restaurants, such as Morton’s Steakhouse, we could bring back Amtrak into our city, the way it used to be.
My Voice, my feelings, totally.
See you next week, as the tour bus heads to the old library, on Benton Street.