Wooden Sidewalks Hide Snaky Secrets
Wooden Sidewalks Hide Snaky Secrets Local historian Ada Douglas Harmon once described the early wooden sidewalks in Glen Ellyn as a “…first-class rendezvous for snakes. When we walked along at night, the snakes would stick their heads up through the cracks and wiggle under our feet.” The wooden sidewalks along Main Street in the downtown […]
Baker Sets Village A Blaze in Great Fire of 1891
The summer of 1891 in Glen Ellyn was especially hot and dry. The drought persisted into the autumn. Old timers likened it to the weather 20 years earlier that had preceded the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned for two days and consumed everything in a path nearly a mile wide and four miles […]
Those Rowdy Boys from Danby
The First World War had a profound effect on British society, upsetting strict class distinctions and turning Victorian England on its ear. Curiously, the Civil War (1861–1865) had a similar effect on the little village of Glen Ellyn, which then was known as Danby. Danby sent 70 of its young men (more than 20 percent […]
When Corn Husking Led to Teen Romance
If you can pause for a minute between rushing the kids to soccer games and cheerleader practice, you may enjoy a brief look at how our youngsters expended energy in Glen Ellyn’s early days, when it was basically a small farming community. The village was called Danby during much of that period (1851 to 1874). […]
‘Old Ketch’: A Colorful Character in Glen Ellyn History
Carpenter, trapper, gun lover and choir boy…all of these labels applied to “Old Ketch,” one of Glen Ellyn’s original citizens. The Village’s early years were populated with a number of people who could be called “characters.” Near the top of this list would be Erastus Ketchum Jr., who, in 1834 at the age of eight, […]
The Creation of Lake Ellyn
The Village of Glen Ellyn owes a debt of gratitude to Thomas E. Hill and Seth Baker who envisioned building a lake in town and spearheaded a drive to collect funds to build it. In fact, the Village of Glen Ellyn owes its name to this lake. Lake Ellyn was created in the summer of […]
How many names has Glen Ellyn had?
The most common answer is seven, although there is some disagreement about what the seven names should be. Here is the chronology of what we know.
Early History of Glen Ellyn
The first European-American settlers in this area arrived in 1833 when three Babcock brothers took claim to a large tract of land that included what is now the five corners intersection of St. Charles Road, Geneva Road and Main Street on the north side of Glen Ellyn. The large area they claimed was called Babcock’s […]
Ice Skating to Lisle
In the 1800s, before heavy use of municipal water wells drew down the aquifers beneath Glen Ellyn and surrounding communities, there were many springs bubbling to the surface, spawning creeks here and there. One such creek originated in the vicinity of what today is the Glen Ellyn Public Library. That small stream ran northeast right […]
How Did That Cow Get on the Roof of the Church?
At Halloween time 100 years ago, boys in Glen Ellyn seemed to be more interested in doing pranks than in collecting treats. By 1920 they were competing to see who could do the wildest prank, which led to this interesting story. One morning after Halloween, the town awoke to discover a cow tied up on […]