By Ricky Rieckert
Dear readers,
Seeing as this is Christmas week, I will just focus on one downtown building.
This week, we’re down on Benton Street, at the historic Holbrook Mill, at 121 and / or 101 W. Benton Street. The Street that it faces, (W. Benton Street), was originally called Holbrook Avenue.
Built in 1840-1843 in downtown Aurora, near the Fox River, serving as an early industrial site that later housed various businesses, and is now part of the City’s historic downtown, often linked to Stolp Island’s industrial past.
It was built with limestone from local quarries in Aurora, probably the one over on North Avenue.
The Mill is possibly the oldest industrial site in Kane County. It functioned as a grist mill, a livery stable, and carriage works, before being adapted for other uses.
After the 1870s the Holbrook Mill building shifted its early industrial roots to more varied commercial uses, as Aurora modernized.
The following were its primary uses during that period:
•Carriage and wagon manufacturing: In 1876, the building housed Blackmore and Jackson, a manufacturer of carriages, sleighs, and wagons.
•Livery stable: During the mid-to-late 19th Century, it was used as a livery stable for local transportation.
•Storage and other industrial use: Over the decades, it continued to serve as a versatile industrial site, including functions as a grist mill and general storage before falling into disrepair in the late 20th Century.
The structure has been preserved and underwent a significant restoration project in 2006, where it was dismantled stone-by-stone and rebuilt on a new foundation.
The building has transitioned into a community and creative space. It has served as an:
•Art gallery: An exhibition space for First Friday events in Aurora.
•Architectural office: The headquarters for the firm: Allen and Pepa Architects.
•Creative museum: Home to Oddlots HQ, a museum celebrating unconventional Art.
Now, if someday they could restore the old BNSF Amtrak Railroad Station, on S. Broadway, (Rt. 25).
It’s just not right, that a city of more than 200,000 residents, have to go to Naperville to catch the high tracks. The new station only runs from Aurora to Chicago, on the ground level tracks.
That’s all for now. To all The Voice readers, subscribers, affiliates, employees, and all: Have a merry Christmas!