First of all, Naperville is an amazing city.  Its prestigious awards are too numerous to list…

A few:

* #1 place to raise a family

* #1 place to start & own a home-based   
        business.                        

* 2 of the top 5 school districts in the nation

* Highest standard of living in the nation

* Second largest Chamber of Commerce in the

        State. (only Chicago is bigger)

* #1 Illinois festival
        (The Exchange Club’s annual Ribfest)

* #1 Library system in the nation
        (voted Best Library in the nation, 7 years in a row)

* One of the fastest growing cities in the nation

* Award-Winning College Radio Station

* Most Family-friendly town in America

* Dozens of athletic awards for the High

        Schools & College
Plus many more

*  A Naperville resident, Marcellus Jones, fired the first shot in the Civil

     War’s Battle of Gettysburg.  A  battle the south never recovered

     from, that ultimately led to their surrender and a victory for the Union.

     *  A Naperville resident is the soldier who pulled Dictator Saddam Hussein

     out of the foxhole he was hiding in.

     *  Adolph Coors, founder of the Coors Beer brewing company, learned to

          brew beer in Naperville while working for Stenger Brewing in the

          1800's.

     *  Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s Restaurants, learned the fast food

      business while working for Cock Robin restaurants, based in

      Naperville.

     *  A Naperville resident is the drummer for musical super group Hootie and

          the Blowfish.

     *  Paula Zahn, national news personality, is a native Napervillian.      
         

     *  A Naperville resident invented the wireless TV remote control!

     *  Gena Glockson, a Naperville resident, made it into
           American Idol’s top 10 in 2006.

The seeds for this greatness were planted long ago…

The founder of Naperville, Joseph Naper was born in Bennington Virginia.  At a young age he moved with his family to Ohio. 

On July 15, 1831, Joe Naper sold his brother Benjamin’s boat for him, to a buyer in Chicago.  Joe then delivered the boat – named The Telegraph – sailing it to Chicago from Ohio.  Joe and several families with him had decided to make the Chicago area their new home.

There were few roads at that time, but Joe and the others set out to find a home.  They settled along what is now the DuPage River.  Their first crude huts were at approximately the spots where Ogden Avenue intersects Columbia St. 

Joe Naper and his fellow pioneers came here in 1831.  But contrary to popular belief they were not the first white’s here.  When they arrived, the Scott family and Hobson's were already here - and the area was referred to as Scott's settlement. 

At the time the area was also popular with Indians. There have been artifacts unearthed along the DuPage River that suggest more than 30 separate tribes have lived along the river that runs through the ground that would eventually become Naperville.

The grounds were very fertile, both in plant and animal.  But it was also a very dangerous place; the early settlers in this area never knew when a marauding Indian might jump out of the darkness,

grab them by the hair and proceed to remove their head.

There were constant dangers.  Still they remained firm.

In spring of 1832 there were about 200 settlers in the settlement then. It was then that a Pottawanami Indian named Shattee, who was friendly with the settlers, was asked to help kill the settlers by the Black Hawk Indians.  He informed the settlers of the Pottawanami plan and the woman and children were quickly moved to Fort Dearborn in Chicago.  It was a 2-day journey. 

The men then began building a fort that they could use for protection while defending their homesteads. It was called Fort Payne, and it was built on what is now Chicago Avenue, where Ellsworth Street intersects.  There is a ¼ size replica of it in the Naper Settlement Museum.  Thankfully, before they finished building the fort, a treaty was signed, peace was restored, and the women and children returned.

(There was a widely popular story that Indians killed Joe Naper and his family after returning from Ft Dearborn.  But, that he first killed 9 Indians himself!  This is not true, Joe Naper returned to Naperville peacefully. He died in his sleep from a heart condition on August 24^th, 1862).

With the Black Hawk War behind them, Joe Naper began to take the initiative to build commerce in the area, organize small governments, establish churches, schools, laws and rules, etc.  In fact, before long, people began referring to the area as Naper's Settlement (evidentially the Scott's didn't care!).  The area, under Joe Naper's guidance, began to grow and prosper. 

Naper Settlement was incorporated as a city in 1861 and officially became Naperville (that's 3 years after the start of the Civil War).  Interestingly, Joe Naper didn't want to name the town Naperville. He wanted to name it simply, Naper.  He was outvoted.

One of our early crown jewels was the Pre-emption house Hotel - built in 1834, was on the land currently occupied by Sullivan's restaurant. The original Preemption House was razed in 1946. It was a tavern, hotel, stable, saloon, and all-around fun place. 

The Pre-emption house had 19 sleeping rooms with an average of 15 meals served daily.  Many notables sought lodging there.  The housekeepers there were paid 8 dollars a week.  It was comfortable and a bargain too - you could have your horse fed and boarded overnight, as well as have a fresh supper, spend the night, and have breakfast the next morning. Your bill? 65 cents.

It was pretty too. The hotel portion was constructed of locally grown Oak & Walnut - all the trim was white pine, all the floors were maple. 

In 1850, Naperville was growing rapidly. According to the DuPage Census of the time: the area population was 1,226 - including "one Indian, and one Negro".  

On Main Street, west side, just south of Jefferson Street, was the home of Judge Murray.  He was a prominent, successful, and powerful Attorney in Naperville at that time.  His was the home where Stephen Douglas spent the night, when he and Abe Lincoln were in Naperville for the Lincoln / Douglas debates in 1856!  Slavery was the key issue.  Lincoln did go on to win the republican nomination for the Illinois Senate.

While Stephen Douglas slept at Judge Murray’s house, Abe Lincoln slept in the Pre-emption House Hotel.  One story is that Lincoln gave an impromptu speech off the Preemption House balcony.  There is no official record of the speech but there are written correspondence that refer to it happening.

Lincoln’s oft quoted sound bite from the debates, probably rang out on Main street from the mouth of Abe Lincoln himself,  “A house divided against itself cannot stand.  I believe this government cannot endure permanently, half slave, half free.”  

Of course back then the area was a lot different than now: the river was much larger than today, and most of the ground was marshy.  In fact it was so muddy that if you got stuck in it, it could take hours to get yourself out. 

Animal life too was much more abundant, as were rattlesnakes – in the grass and the river.  The abundant wildlife continued for a long time. In fact, in the 1870's, a man speared an 11-pound eel in Mill street pond! 

By the late 1800’s Naperville was really flourishing.  There were two more major hotels - The Naper House Hotel and the Washington House.  The Naperville school had 279 students and 147 books in its inventory.

(The average income in America at that time?  A whopping 29 cents an hour).

In 1900 Naperville’s population was 2600. Illness was rampant. At that time the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. was Diarrhea.  Consumption (later called Tuberculosis) was very common.  Naperville's award-winning Edward Hospital was originally a Tuberculosis Sanitarium. Medicines were virtually non-existent or primitive.  An actual Consumption remedy was to swallow live baby frogs and drink a broth of boiled black cat!

Hygiene was an issue.  In 1900, etiquette dictated that hair should be washed no less than once a month!  Proper dress in 1900: Young and middle-aged women generally wore a white blouse and skirt or a dark muslin dress.  These dresses were very heavy, often containing over 13 yards of cloth. Men wore dark suits with stiff starched collars.

The first autocar in Naperville was seen in May 1905, probably driving from Chicago to Aurora.

If you look close at Naperville you’ll notice two things that separate it from other towns in the area:

1) Naperville is the only town in the area in which the railroad doesn’t go through the middle of the downtown section of town. 

And 2) There are no telephone poles.  This is because in 1910 when the roads began to be paved, forward-thinking city planners put the telephone cables underground!  Most towns didn’t get around to this idea until 1980!!

Of course, Naperville is far from perfect.  We have our share of problems for sure.  But there is always a resiliency; a determination to do better next time, to work together for the good of all the residents and visitors alike.

We hope you’ll come see us, and let us show you how determined we are to always be the best we can be.