Since Naperville sprang from the northern Illinois prairie, it has maintained an unmistakably fascinating heritage. The settlers who followed the Napers to the DuPage River had to endure the hardships of felling trees and plowing prairies to make a place to call home. The campuses of the Research and Technology corridor might seem far removed from the travails of those early years, but both are part of the same community. That shared tradition holds surprises such as the location of the Stenger Brewery or the legacy of Peter Kroehler, furniture tycoon, mayor and philanthropist. Bryan Ogg takes stock of the people and events that shaped Naperville from its founding through its current state.

The remarkable city of Naperville, Illinois, began as an agrarian community in the mid-1800s. The rich prairie filled the grain elevators and cattle were shipped to the Chicago "Yards." Through the medium of historic photographs, this book captures the evolution of the people of Naperville, from the mid-1800s to the present day. These pages bring to life the people, events, communities, and industries that helped to shape and transform Naperville. With more than 200 vintage images, Naperville, Illinois, portrays a community that is both idyllic and contemporary. This book takes readers back to Naperville's simpler days, and provides a glimpse as to how this community grew into a new mecca. Business and commerce thrive, the schools offer quality education, city services are national award-winning, cultural activities are diverse and plentiful, and traditions blend easily with the future.

Downtown Naperville is a place unlike many others because of its long, wonderful history and contemporary success. More than just a central business district, downtown Naperville is a beloved asset to many residents and gives Illinois' fourth-largest city a small-town feel. What began in the mid-1800s as a service center for an agrarian community 30 miles from Chicago has become a shopping and social hot spot of Chicago's western suburbs and a potent draw for new residents. Many of the same buildings settlers built remain, but downtown Naperville has changed in many ways-local businesses have come and gone, and the area was once threatened by indoor mall development. The community's dedication to building the Riverwalk in 1981 sparked a resurgence of Naperville's quaint and celebrated downtown. On the eve of the new millennium, Naperville threw a huge celebration on the streets of downtown to welcome the 21st century, but the party could have been a farewell to the downtown of old as well. A new era began at about that time, as many longtime local service businesses began leaving downtown while national retail chains and restaurants moved in. Through photographs of each stage of downtown Naperville's vibrant history, see the area change from 1831 through the 20th century to today.

Naperville is a quintessential American city, where many cultures blend together in harmony. Founded in 1831 by Capt. Joseph Naper and incorporated in 1857, the city has progressed from rural farmland to a robust commercial economy. In 1860, kerosene lamps and one wooden bridge were surrounded by the sounds of prairie fowl and croaking frogs. In 1960, the population exploded. Now, 21 languages are spoken in the community, and the meandering downtown Naperville Riverwalk offers bucolic serenity to those strolling along the Century Walk artwork. Naperville has two partner Sister Cities that strengthen culture and business: Nitra, Slovakia (as of 1993), and Patzcuaro, Mexico (as of 2010). The city comes alive thanks to its people and families, organizations, leaders, and events. It is filled with a rich culture that values the history of yesterday while looking forward to tomorrow s joys. Naperville is simply outstanding in every manner and mode of living."

Established in 1831, Naperville is one of the oldest settlements in the Greater Chicago area. The city's rich and fascinating heritage has been carefully passed down from one proud generation to the next; however, nowhere has Naperville's ghostly oral tradition and haunted history been preserved until now. Most of Naperville's unique legends--compiled for the fi rst time ever in these pages--arose from accounts of actual historic events and from the lives of notable personages in the city's long history. As the tragic events and persons faded from living memory, all that might remain of them would be ghost stories whispered by fi relight and, later, by fl ashlight tucked under a teenager's chin at slumber parties. Some eerie legends in these pages have origins that are lost in time, and still other hair-raising ghost stories included in this work are chilling contemporary, firsthand accounts of paranormal encounters within Naperville's sprawling boundaries . . . perhaps from even just down the street.

Since Naperville sprang from the northern Illinois prairie, it has maintained an unmistakably fascinating heritage. The settlers who followed the Napers to the DuPage River had to endure the hardships of felling trees and plowing prairies to make a place to call home. The campuses of the Research and Technology corridor might seem far removed from the travails of those early years, but both are part of the same community. That shared tradition holds surprises such as the location of the Stenger Brewery or the legacy of Peter Kroehler, furniture tycoon, mayor and philanthropist. Bryan Ogg takes stock of the people and events that shaped Naperville from its founding through its current state.

Howard leaves his career in Seattle and moves back home to Naperville, Illinois, to help his mother Candice transition after an accident leaves her blind. At the local Caribou Coffee, they cross paths with Anne, Howard’s old classmate and an expert on Naperville’s founder, Captain Joseph Naper. NAPERVILLE is a comedy about high school crushes, curfews (for your mother), sight, and how beauty reveals itself in the suburbs.