By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. This week, I’m writing about old buildings in Aurora’s downtown. Let’s start with the tallest building in Aurora, and at one time, the second tallest building in Illinois, behind the Sears Tower, in Chicago, the “The
Time was, you could catch the interurban trolley at Main and Washington streets in downtown Oswego and, with inexpensive transfers, ride electric lines all the way east to the Atlantic Coast and all the way west to the Mississippi River. That era will be brought to life once again at
September 11 Approximately 75,000 coal miners in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, end a 10-week strike after winning an eight-hour day, semi-monthly pay, and the abolition of overpriced company-owned stores, where they had been forced to shop. – 1897. At 7:45 a.m. CDT an American Airlines Boeing 767 crashes into
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, I hope you have read my last two articles on Aurora’s downtown. It’s a serious issue for all Aurorans. One letter to the editor, last week made a comment on my “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, comment. She wrote a very good editorial
September 4 Romulus Augustus, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed by Odoacer, a German barbarian, who proclaims himself king of Italy. – 476 A.D.. Apache chief Geronimo surrenders to U.S. government troops. For 30 years, the mighty Native American warrior had battled to protect his tribe’s
August 28 More than 23,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered by the Gestapo in German-occupied Ukraine. – 1941. The march for jobs and freedom, the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have A Dream” speech march, is held in Washington, D.C. with 250,000 participating. – 1963. At the Democratic National Convention in
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, The article this week on Aurora’s history continues with the focus on downtown Aurora. Readers 50 years and older might remember places I’m writing about. Not that I’m omitting the younger generations, but they didn’t have a chance to see or experience Aurora the way
Ever wonder how Oswego’s downtown business district evolved to become the vibrant collection of shops and offices it is today? Find out when the Oswegoland Heritage Association and the Little White School Museum host “Oswego History Tour – Downtown,” starting at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23. All communities evolve and
August 21 Slave revolt led by Nat Turner begins in Southampton County, Va.. Turner’s rebellion was the largest slave revolt in U.S. history and led to a new wave of oppressive legislation prohibiting the movement, assembly, and education of slaves. – 1831. U.S. senator Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Abraham
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, This article on Aurora’s history is about the Stolp Island Historic District. Stolp Island is in the Fox River, at a site where the River drops steeply. This drop is what gave the McCarty brothers, Joseph Stolp, and Zaphna Lake, the water power source they
August 14 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Social Security Act, to provide for the first time, guaranteed income for retirees and to create a system of unemployment benefits. – 1935. A major outage knocks out power across the eastern United States and parts of Canada. Fifty-million people were affected. Despite
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, This week we’re taking a cruise in the Tour Bus to E. Downer Place (aka Fox Street), to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Memorial Hall in Aurora. As an historic octagonal limestone building that served as a tribute to Union soldiers after the
August 7 In Newburgh, N. Y., General George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the U.S. Continental Army, creates the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged with a narrow binding of silver, with the word Merit stitched across the face in silver. The
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, Most individuals agree about the importance of the bridges that cross over the Fox River that divide the east and west side of Aurora. I often thought they would have taken Sullivan Road east of Mitchell Road to Farnsworth Avenue, to reduce the traffic from
July 31 Former Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa disappears. Presumed to be dead, his body never has been found. – 1975. A hurricane strikes the East Coast of Florida and sinks 10 Spanish treasure ships and kills almost 1,000 persons. The ships left Havana, Cuba, on their way to Europe and
By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, This week, we’ll finish the history of Aurora’s bridges. The bridges over the Fox River in Aurora, have significantly impacted the City’s development and character. Bridges were initially built to overcome the Fox River, connecting the east and west sides of Aurora, to enable easier
July 24 American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look at Machu Picchu, an ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world’s top tourist destinations with more than 300,000 tourists visiting every year.- 1911. The steamer Eastland overturns in the Chicago River; between 800 and 850
By Ricky Rieckert Welcome readers, As we start this week, I was pleased to see the last edition, with my birthday, July 10, on it. I received several phone calls, texts and cards from several people. To them: Thank-you. This week, as promised, we’ll be looking at the history of
July 17 U.S. president Harry S Truman, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and British prime minister Winston Churchill, meet in the Berlin suburb of Potsdam to discuss issues relating to postwar Europe and plans to deal with the ongoing conflict with Japan. The meeting was marked by growing suspicion and tension
Between the early 1950s and the early 1980s, the Oswego area underwent a profound change. What had once been primarily a community catering to surrounding farms rapidly changed into a fast-growing Chicago exurb. Children who grew up during that era saw the entire character of northern Kendall County change, literally
