Andrea Field

A boy points to a billboard touting the One In A Million milkshakes sold at the Price Castle ice cream shops in Naperville, which later became known as Cock Robin. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Cock Robin ice cream shop went into the history books in 2000, but its story dates back to 1931

April 26, 2024 at 4:57 p.m.

With warm weather fast approaching, we turn our attention to one of summer's best-loved treats: ice cream. Quite a bit of ice cream was once produced in Naperville and enjoyed...

Edward Sanatorium in Naperville officially became Edward Hospital in 1955, when there was no longer a need for a special treatment facility for tuberculosis patients. The hospital remains on Washington Street but it is significantly larger. The last part of the old sanitorium was demolished in 1973. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: 68 years ago, old TB treatment center became Naperville’s first medical center — Edward Hospital

April 18, 2024 at 5:57 p.m.

Before it became Edward Hospital 68 years ago, the medical facility on Washington Street was known as Edward Sanatorium, a place where people with tuberculosis — then a major disease...

This is a stereoscope card of North Central College's Old Main building in Naperville. A stereoscope is two photographs of the same object, presented at a slightly different angle, that are viewed at the same time to create a 3-D effect. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: If not for the lack of a train station, North Central College would still be in Plainfield

April 12, 2024 at 7:26 p.m.

Before it became a fixture in downtown Naperville, North Central College's humble beginnings can be traced back to 1861 in neighboring Plainfield.

Female employees at the Kroehler Manufacturing Company wore sentry blue uniforms with matching caps when working in 1943 at Plant #1 in Naperville. Pictured, from left: Lorraine Laugl, Virginia Chandler, Rose Hodel, Genevieve Stark Bauko, Sarah Grate Rodesieler, Louise Orcutt, Lucille Daverin, Mary Buvarskis, Leona Burke, Anna Palger, Helen O’Conner, Dorothy Stone, Celia Cowan, Virginia Seetin, Helen Walsh, Louise Kungle. (Courtesy Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Kroehler Manfacturing Company, formerly one of largest employer in Naperville, was a WWII military vendor. Company produced prosthetics and Gold Stars for fallen soldiers.

April 6, 2024 at 11:28 a.m.

Every week we publish a historic photo highlighting a story from Naperville’s past from the history archives of Naper Settlement. By Steve Metsch and Andrea Field World War II saw many manufacturing...

The corner of Jefferson Avenue and Main Street in downtown Naperville was just as busy in the 1960s as it is today, although the kinds of businesses seen in this photo are no longer there. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: For decades, downtown Naperville was home to dry goods stores and cleaners and pharmacies, not retailers and restaurants

March 28, 2024 at 3:42 p.m.

One of the most photographed locations in downtown Naperville is the northeast corner of Jefferson Avenue and Main Street, which has seen many changes over the years. The red brick...

Bub and His Boys perform Aug. 14, 1957, at the Wheatland Plowing Match Association show in unincorporated Naperville. The group was a popular band, and performed for many years in Illinois and Wisconsin. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: For nearly 100 years, Naperville farmers would face off in plowing competions to test their strength, skill and concentration

March 22, 2024 at 7:51 a.m.

The Wheatland Plowing Match Association was formed in 1877 as a nod to one of the most physically demanding tasks performed by farmers, and for many years an annual competition...

The monthly horse market held outside the Pre-Emption House in downtown Naperville between 1885 to 1905 brought huge numbers of people from surrounding counties and even Chicago. While the original Pre-Emption House was torn down in 1946, it was recreated as one of the buildings on the Naper Settlement campus. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Naperville was no one-horse town when it came to buying and selling horseflesh in the late 1800s

March 16, 2024 at 8:11 p.m.

If you were in the market for a horse, there was no better place to buy one than downtown Naperville in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Monthly horse sales...

Several members of the Naperville's Rural Life Progress Club, founded in 1916, participated in the city's Home Coming Parade, which was held on June 1, 1917. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Old-time family club committed members to ‘betterment’ of Naperville through soil, buildings, livestock, homes and community

March 6, 2024 at 6:18 p.m.

The Rural Life Progress Club played a big role in Naperville and the surrounding community for more than 50 years.

Stenger Brewing Co. was a huge operation in Naperville, operating on Franklin Avenue between Webster and Main streets from 1849 to 1892. In 1917, its buildings were purchased by the Illinois Mushroom Co., which used them to grow mushrooms until 1953. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Huge Naperville brewery thrived for more than 40 years before becoming a mushroom farm

March 1, 2024 at 3:50 p.m.

These days, you can find all sorts of craft brews at local liquor stores but back in the 1800s, you could find beer brewed right here in Naperville. Over the...

This is a photo of Washington Street in downtown Naperville looking north from the intersection at Chicago Avenue. This picture is thought to be from the 1940s. It is part of the Steve Hyett postcard collection. (Naper Settlement)

The Way We Were: Take a look at what downtown Naperville looked like in the 1940s (Beidelman’s still there)

February 23, 2024 at 1:22 p.m.

The more things change, the more they remain the same, or so the saying goes. Consider today’s photo – believed to date from the 1940s – which looks north on...

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