Timeline of Downers Grove
Compiled using research and images courtesy of the Downers Grove Museum.
December 7, 1941 — Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States declares war on Japan.
June 8, 1945 — Fred Lester is killed in WWII battle and receives the Medal of Honor. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a medical corpsman with an assault rifle platoon, attached to the…
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April 3, 1947 - The Burlington Twin-City Zephyr passenger train crashes at the Main Street Train Station and kills three people.
1964 — Downers Grove South High School is built after a referendum had passed on Nov. 25, 1962 for the building of a second high school at the cost of $4,050,000.
January 30, 1977 - The Downers Grove Museum opens in the 1892 Blodgett House.
1983-1999 — Betty Cheever serves as the first female Mayor of Downers Grove.
1998 — Cammi Granato wins Olympic gold medal for women’s hockey in Nagano, Japan. Granato was the captain of the U.S. women's hockey team that won a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics. On February 8, 1998, she scored the first ever Olympic goal for the U.S women's hockey team.
2008 — The 1846 Israel Blodgett House is moved onto the museum campus from Randall Ave.
2020 — The museum opens 1846 Israel P. Blodgett House to the Public.