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Timeline of Downers Grove
Compiled using research and images courtesy of the Downers Grove Museum.
1870
1870 — The census data from that time shows the population was 2,518, but that is only counting white and black people born in the U.S. There are additional numbers for immigrants and Native Peoples. To see the full 1870 census, click here. Downers Grove is listed on page 4.
1873
On March 29, 1873, Downers Grove is incorporated and Captain T.S. Rogers is elected the first Village President. The first meeting of the Village trustees was on April 26, 1873
1873
In 1873 approval was given for village incorporation, with 49 aye votes and 38 nays. T. S. Rogers was chosen first village president, serving sixteen years. Operating expenses that year were $600, half spent for streets and alleys. The first sidewalk of two inch planks was built along Maple Avenue.
1892
1892 — Charles Blodgett, son of Israel Blodgett, moves his childhood pioneer home to the back of the property and builds his Victorian home on top its foundation. This building becomes the Downers Grove Museum in 1976.
1893
Charles Blair Macdonald and his Chicago Golf Club colleagues establish the first 18-hole golf course west of the Allegheny Mountains. The club, now known as the Belmont Golf Club, is now owned by the Downers Grove Park District. It was selected as the Historic Site of the Year in 2023…
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1894
1894 — Colonel Wells Blodgett earns a Medal of Honor for his service during the Civil War.
1908
1908-1940 — Sears Homes and other “kit” homes are built in Downers Grove. 24 Sears Homes still remain.
1921
1921 — Downers Grove purchases its first motorized fire truck.
1922
November 7, 1922 – Lottie Holman-O’Neill is the first woman to be elected to the Illinois House of Representatives. A bathroom had to be built for her at the State Capitol.
1922
November 29, 1922 — Dr. James Breasted aides in the opening of the tomb of King Tut in Egypt and translates the tomb’s runes. Dr. James Henry Breasted moved to Downers Grove with his family in 1871, when Breasted was 6 years old. He attended the Lincoln School from 1873…
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1928
1928 — Downers Grove High School (now Downers Grove North High School) is built.
1928
December 25, 1928 — The Tivoli Theatre opens and becomes the second theatre in the United States that was specifically designed for talking pictures.
1934
May 26, 1934 – The Burlington-Zephyr train’s first passage through Downers Grove, traveling at 85 mph.
1940
1940 — Art “Birdman” Chester, a Downers Grove native and stunt pilot, is the chief designer for the P-51 Mustang fighter plane.
