977.323 
 EL37 
 
 Elgin Association of Commerce 
 Opportunity, Beauty: Elgin. y 
 
ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY 
 
I 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/elginopportunityOOelgi 
 
Elgin ^ ^Foreword 
 
 Life ... is filled with joys and sorrows . . . 
 comforts and hardships . . . wealth and 
 poverty . . . beauty and ugliness . . . ac- 
 tivity and inertia . . . kindness and cruelty 
 . . . hope and despair . . . paychecks and 
 bills . . . flat tires and speedplanes . . . 
 burnt breakfast bacon and delicious Sun- 
 day dinners . . . crying babies and proud 
 mothers and fathers . . . BUT . . . there's 
 one garden spot in this world of reality 
 where the pleasant things of life are con- 
 stantly shunting the distasteful things 
 into the background . . . one place where 
 there's always sunshine and friendship in 
 life no matter how dark the clouds of trou' 
 ble . . . YES, . . . real people really live in 
 ELGIN, ILLINOIS 
 
 ▲ jl. the Elgin ▲ jl. 
 association of commerce 
 elgin ^ ^ ^ illinois 
 
 
 // f^JJ fW f x UJJ f\ 
 
 MWI^MfW f 
 
 
 
 wro»rn?liei° 
 

^7 
 
 
 © Dick Peck 
 
 The Romance of 
 the City of Elgin 
 
 Have you ever longed to find ro- 
 mance and adventure in ... . just 
 living? 
 
 Have you ever closed your eyes 
 and found yourself drearily day 
 dreaming in your chair . . . thinking 
 . . . hoping . . . wondering if some' 
 where in this great country of ours 
 there was a place where you could 
 find peace . . . happiness . . . content- 
 ment . . . where you could really live 
 for the joy of living . . . yet not be 
 out of touch with a humming center 
 of activity where romance is found 
 in iron . . . and steel . . . and sky- 
 scrapers? 
 
 Then ... let us tell you the story 
 of the city of your dreams . . . nestled 
 in the quiet of a river valley . . . thirty- 
 seven miles from the heart of Ameri- 
 ca's second greatest metropolis ... a 
 city of beautiful homes, fine streets, 
 lovely parks, stately churches ... a 
 city of charm and beauty . . . filled 
 with true happiness ... a city of 
 friendly people . . . beckoning the 
 home seeker not alone as a place to 
 live but as a "place for ideal living" 
 ...ELGIN, ILLINOIS. 
 
 If we delve into history we find 
 that Elgin was founded nearly a hun- 
 
 
 Page three 
 
dred years ago when a courageous 
 band of Western settlers came upon 
 a spot in the winding Fox River 
 Valley whose natural beauty im- 
 pressed them as a site for a home 
 settlement which could grow into a 
 thriving, progressive city. 
 
 No towering mountain peaks . . . 
 no diamond studded lakes ... no 
 scenic wonders . . . just a placid river 
 
 stream flowing through a fertile val- 
 ley surrounded by green forests and 
 rolling hills. ... To them the site 
 spelled 'opportunity' just as ELGIN 
 today spells opportunity for success 
 and happiness ... at work and at 
 home. 
 
 Ten decades have passed since the 
 pioneers organized their little hamlet 
 and named it after a Scotch hymn 
 
 A picturesque 
 view of the 
 beautiful Fox 
 River at Elgin. 
 
 One of many 
 model farms 
 located at the 
 edge of Elgin. 
 
 Page four 
 
bearing the title "ELGIN." The vil- 
 lage has grown to a thriving city of 
 over 35,000 people. Its industries . . . 
 its homes .... and its people reflect 
 
 the progress of a century. An hour's 
 ride to the East is Chicago . . . giant 
 dynamo of the Middle West harbor- 
 ing three and a half million ,'people. 
 
 The People 
 
 The early characteristics of 
 ELGIN'S population have been 
 maintained. The years have not 
 changed the type of people making 
 up its citizenry . . . and . . . after all 
 . . . your neighbors, your associates, 
 the friendly ones with whom you 
 come in contact every hour of the 
 day are the greatest asset . . . the 
 real attraction in any city. Today, 
 over eighty percent of ELGIN'S resi- 
 
 dents are native white ... the bal- 
 ance are whites of foreign birth . . . 
 most of. whom, of course, are fully 
 naturalized American citizens. Intel- 
 ligent, active, civic-minded people 
 . . . well educated persons whose 
 greatest interest lies in being neigh- 
 borly . . . friendly to one another . . . 
 those are the chief characteristics of 
 the residents of ELGIN. 
 
 Route 22 
 A typical concrete road leading into the City of Elgin 
 
 Page five 
 
The City 
 
 Government 
 
 Government "by the people" has 
 a real meaning in the city of ELGIN. 
 The authoritative power is vested in 
 a mayor and four commissioners who 
 compose the executive commission 
 which has full executive and legisla- 
 
 tive powers usually possessed by the 
 political officers elected under the 
 regular aldermanic form of govern- 
 ment. Political rivalry has been dis- 
 carded in ELGIN as detrimental to 
 the best welfare of the city. Ineffi- 
 
 Elgin's 
 ultra-modern 
 High School. 
 
 M fci 
 
 SI 11 
 
 iiii 
 
 JL. ,.\,. 
 
 
 The Laura 
 Davidson 
 Sears 
 
 Academy of 
 Fine Arts. 
 
 Page six 
 
ciency, graft, corruption and the 
 usual vicissitudes of government are 
 unknown. The mayor and commis- 
 sioners are aware of their complete 
 responsibility to the people. To each 
 
 is entrusted the supervision of cer- 
 tain departments of government and 
 the responsibility for their proper 
 functioning rests solely with the 
 executive commissioner. 
 
 The Schools 
 and Churches 
 
 The educational facilities found in 
 the city of ELGIN are seldom 
 equalled in cities of similar popula- 
 tion. A fully equipped high school 
 . . . modern in every respect . . . 
 rated Class A by educational organi- 
 zations and eleven grade school 
 buildings comprise the public edu- 
 cational facilities in the city. All of 
 these schools are directed by trained 
 
 educators and offer courses of in- 
 struction for every individual need. 
 Ample facilities for expansion have 
 been provided. The children 
 of ELGIN'S families are never 
 crowded into classrooms .... tem- 
 porary barracks are never used. In 
 addition to the public institutions 
 ELGIN has three parochial schools, 
 and a well equipped business college 
 
 A view showing one of the many beautiful churches 
 located in Elgin. 
 
 Page seven 
 
offering courses in day and evening 
 instruction, Elgin Academy, one of 
 the oldest institutions of learning in 
 the state, heavily endowed, and a 
 school of such high rating that its 
 students are accepted at Annapolis 
 and West Point without further 
 scholastic examination. Also a home 
 and farm school for boys is just out- 
 
 side the city limits, and a fraternal 
 school for children is located three 
 miles north of the city. 
 
 The churches of ELGIN, having 
 a membership of over half the popu- 
 lation in the city are among the 
 most beautiful religious edifices in 
 the country. Their membership corn- 
 
 Elgin is very 
 proud of its 
 beautiful 
 Public Parks 
 
 ,Jfc.**»*-t .- ■„. >*f; 
 
 »:,nxt 
 
 Two views 
 taken in Wing 
 Park, Elgin. 
 
 Page eight 
 
prises men and women of all creeds 
 and denominations who are impelled 
 by their faith to devote much time 
 and energy to the expounding of the 
 Christian religion. The city churches 
 reflect varied types of architecture 
 
 yet invariably each structure has 
 been so designed and created as to 
 add to the impressive beauty of the 
 city. Church attendance in ELGIN 
 is almost as much a matter of civic 
 pride as the ballot box. 
 
 The Recreational 
 Opportunities 
 
 Beautiful parks covering many wide expanses of lawn are found 
 acres of rolling wooded ground and right in the heart of ELGIN. The 
 
 Elgin's Municipal Bathing Pool. 
 
 One of the 
 Public Golf 
 Courses in 
 Elgin. 
 
 Page nine 
 
largest has a nine hole golf course, 
 tennis courts, hockey courses, base- 
 ball fields and horseshoe courts and 
 covers over one hundred and twenty 
 acres of ground. Another contains 
 a museum and zoological garden and 
 two small lakes which afford excel- 
 lent winter sport activities. A band- 
 
 stand for public musical concerts . . . 
 a park having hundreds of natural 
 springs and filled with small streams 
 and wooded terrain ... all of these 
 are found in this dream city. 
 
 Several country clubs having 
 eighteen hole golf courses and other 
 recreational facilities are available. 
 
 View showing 
 the lounge 
 room in Elgin's 
 B. P. O. E. 
 Club. 
 
 Lounge room 
 in Elgin's 
 Union 
 League 
 Club. 
 
 Page ten 
 
Theatres, swimming pools, a large 
 public library, canoeing, boating, 
 fishing, hunting, all of these are 
 recreational activities which the 
 people of ELGIN are constantly 
 enjoying. Football, basketball, and 
 baseball are played by the high 
 school and Elgin Academy students 
 and a widespread interest is main- 
 tained in these sports. 
 
 Elgin also has an active Y. M. 
 
 C. A. and Y. W. C. A., each occupy- 
 ing its own building. These organiza- 
 tions are renowned for their excellent 
 recreational facilities and the good 
 fellowship prevailing amongthe 
 members is of the highest. The Y. 
 M. C. A., whose membership totals 
 over 1200, has an excellent summer 
 camp located on Lake Beulah, Wis- 
 consin, which is considered one of 
 the finest equipped and most beauti- 
 ful Y. camps in the country. 
 
 How 
 People Live 
 
 Nearly eighty-five percent of the homes. This fact alone attests to the 
 people in ELGIN own their own prestige this fine city has obtained 
 
 Elgin's Masonic Temple. 
 
 Page eleven 
 
as a "City of Homes." One of the 
 basic reasons for such universal home 
 ownership in ELGIN has been the 
 development of the Building & Loan 
 Associations which offer many finan^ 
 cial inducements to the prospective 
 home owner. Loans are always avail- 
 able for the financing of homes and 
 the careful business zeal which the 
 Building and Loan Associations have 
 followed for many years has greatly 
 contributed to the substantial growth 
 of the city. 
 
 ELGIN residents are proud of 
 their homes. They have spent years 
 of painstaking care in making their 
 homes places of beauty. Colorful 
 gardens . . . expansive lawns . . . 
 stately trees ... all help to give 
 ELGIN'S homes an atmosphere of 
 character and distinction. There are 
 no slums in ELGIN . . . living costs 
 are lower than in corresponding cities 
 in the middle west . . . ELGIN'S 
 streets are well paved . . . well lighted 
 . . . constantly kept in good repair. 
 
 When 
 People Travel 
 
 When ELGINITES travel they 
 have one thought uppermost in their 
 minds ... to travel rapidly . . . 
 
 perform their business and return 
 to ELGIN. Consequently _ease of 
 transportation is one of the factors 
 
 View showing Elgin's Country Club House. 
 
 Page twelve 
 
which has made ELGIN a great res- 
 idential center. Three finely equip- 
 ped railroads, two of them steam and 
 one electric, serve as common carri- 
 ers for ELGIN'S people. Four main 
 highways lead into Chicago. As 
 many more converge in ELGIN and 
 lead out to all sections of the state. 
 
 An interurban service connects 
 ELGIN with other Fox River Valley 
 cities as well as Chicago. Bus lines 
 are operating on all of the main high- 
 ways leading in and out of the city. 
 The railroads and highways also 
 afford excellent express and freight 
 service to all sections of the country. 
 
 View showing a 
 typical Elgin 
 residence. 
 
 Home gardens 
 such as this 
 are numerous 
 in Elgin. 
 
 Page thirteen 
 
What People Do 
 
 There are upwards of sixty indus- 
 tries in ELGIN. Of these, the largest 
 are the watch and watch case manu- 
 
 facturing concerns which employ 
 several thousand people. Many of 
 ELGIN'S products have received 
 
 Elgin's Banks are 
 progressive. The 
 new quarters of the 
 Home Trust and 
 Savings Bank, and 
 Home National 
 Bank. 
 
 The famous 
 
 Elgin 
 
 Observatory 
 
 of the Elgin 
 
 National 
 
 Watch 
 
 Company 
 
 where time is 
 
 recorded. 
 
 Page fourteen 
 
national and even world wide fame. 
 The very name has come to mean 
 the hallmark of quality so that today 
 even the mention of the word E LG I N 
 immediately arrests the listener's at' 
 tention for that name in itself has 
 a distinct advertising value. Wages 
 are comparable in Elgin to other 
 
 cities in the middle west. There are 
 always splendid opportunities for 
 skilled artisans and energetic ap- 
 prentices. The variety of industry 
 in ELGIN is so general that it is 
 impossible to mention specific indus- 
 trial possibilities. 
 
 Where 
 People Shop 
 
 Elgin is a city of exceptionally fine 
 stores. They are well equipped, mod- 
 ern in every detail and carry mer- 
 chandise identical to that found in 
 much larger metropolitan cities. The 
 salespeople in these stores are cour- 
 teous and attentive . . . ever willing 
 
 to serve their patrons to the best of 
 their ability. Many of Elgin's stores 
 enjoy the patronage of people in 
 neighboring cities, such as Chicago, 
 Rockford, Aurora and Joliet. Shop- 
 ping in Elgin is as much a real joy 
 as living in Elgin. 
 
 Elgin's Hospital facilities are very modern and adequate. 
 
 Sherman Hospital 
 
 Page fifteen 
 
And Now 
 
 We could go on forever telling 
 you of the many attractions found 
 in this unique Fox River Valley city. 
 
 We could tell you of its charitable 
 and welfare work ... of its health 
 and sanitation ... of the functioning 
 
 Airplane view of 
 Elgin State 
 Hospital. 
 
 St. Joseph's Hospital. 
 
 Page sixteen 
 
View showing the tremendous plant of the internationally 
 famous Elgin National Watch Company. 
 
 of its city departments ... of its 
 newspapers ... its professional or- 
 ganizations ... its clubs ... its in- 
 dustrial opportunities ... its public 
 utilities . . . but we want you to ap- 
 preciate the real charm and beauty 
 of this dream city, for we know you 
 will take those attributes which are 
 common to all communities for 
 granted. 
 
 The opportunity for happiness . . . 
 and who in this world does not seek 
 happiness . . . that is the message 
 that ELGIN would bring to you in 
 these pages. There's plenty of ro- 
 mance in this city of charm and 
 beauty on the winding Fox ... for 
 IN ELGIN PEOPLE REALLY 
 HAVE LEARNED THE ART OF 
 JOYFUL LIVING. 
 
 Page seventeen 
 
Elgin's 
 Airport. 
 
 Concrete road 
 leading to 
 Airport 
 
 E LG I N has always kept astride 
 of the times . . . when automobile 
 racing was in its infancy ELGIN 
 had one of the finest automobile dirt 
 racing tracks in the country and each 
 year a grueling race attracted the 
 foremost racers to E LG I N. 
 
 Now it's the airplane and ELGIN 
 
 again has kept in step with the wheels 
 of modern progress and is indeed 
 proud of its wonderful airport. The 
 illustration on this page will give you 
 a fairly good idea of Elgin's Airport 
 where at all times you will find a 
 number of various types of planes 
 for your inspection. 
 
 Page eighteen 
 
1 . Home Bank Business Center. 
 
 2. Elgin National Watch Co. 
 
 3. VanSicklen Corporation. 
 
 4. Collinbourne Mills. 
 
 5. Elgin Butter Tub Co. 
 
 6. A. Leath Furniture Factory. 
 
 7. The new industrial district of Elgin. 
 
 The above airplane view of Elgin's 
 new Industrial District enables you 
 to visualize the wonderful advantages 
 it has to offer manufacturers who are 
 seeking a new location. This Indus- 
 trial District is close to the heart of 
 
 Elgin's Business District and located 
 on all the above named railroads. 
 
 Gas, power,water, sewer and switch 
 trackare all on the property. See pages 
 twenty -two and twenty- three for 
 statistical data of the City of Elgin. 
 
 Fage nineteen 
 
D. C. Cook Publishing Co., Publishers of Church and 
 Sunday School literature. 
 
 Illinois Watch 
 Case Company 
 Manufacturers 
 of high grade 
 watch and 
 vanity cases. 
 
 / ^y.:: : ^-^rm^'::>^- ■::..:. 
 
 The 
 
 Collingbourne 
 
 Mills, largest 
 
 independent 
 
 thread 
 
 manufacturers 
 
 in the U. S. A. 
 
 Page twenty 
 
Elgin Stove and Oven Company. 
 
 Van Sicklen 
 Corporation 
 manufacturers 
 of high grade 
 auto acces- 
 sories, cigar 
 lighters and 
 vanity cases. 
 
 «#*»«( 9 9 
 
 hi ™ g| m i III 
 
 B. S. Pearsall 
 
 Butter 
 
 Company. 
 
 Page twenty-one 
 
STATISTICAL DATA 
 
 of Elgin 9 III. 
 
 Elgin has an estimated population 
 in 1929 of 37,000 people. It is notable 
 for having no slum districts, and for 
 having one of the highest percent- 
 ages of home-owners of any city in 
 the country. 
 
 Elgin is served by four deep arte- 
 sian wells, providing pure water in 
 abundance. Its health is further safe- 
 guarded by a modern sewage dis- 
 posal plant of the ImhofTtype under 
 the supervision of a Sanitary Dis- 
 trict. 
 
 Elgin's building permits for the 
 past five years have averaged over 
 $2,500,000.00 each year. Its bank 
 deposits in the six local banks have 
 increased in the past five years from 
 $10,600,000.00 to more than $13,- 
 500,000.00. 
 
 Elgin has between 35 and 40 in- 
 dustrial establishments, making a 
 wide variation of products, and em- 
 ploying between 8,000 and 10,000 
 people. Its factories are busy the 
 year round, and there are few lay- 
 offs or "slump" periods. Wage rates 
 are reasonable, and potential supply 
 of skilled labor far above the average 
 in cities its size. 
 
 One-third of the entire population 
 of the United States is within 500 
 miles of Elgin. It is only one hour's 
 
 ride from Chicago, the largest dis- 
 tributing center in the country, and 
 therefore offers exceptional oppor- 
 tunities for industrial development. 
 
 The Western United Gas and 
 Electric Co. serves Elgin with gas 
 and electricity. The present gas 
 capacity is 17,000,000 cu. ft. per 
 day, and its heating value is 480 
 B. T. U. per cubic foot. Electric 
 energy is the cheapest in Elgin of 
 anywhere in the country, outside of 
 the cities served by Niagara Falls. 
 
 Elgin is situated on four railroads, 
 providing transportation in every 
 direction. It is on the main line of 
 the C. M. St. P. & P., the C. & N. 
 W., the northern terminal of the C. 
 A. & E. (electric) and the E. J. & 
 E., which is the outer belt line, con- 
 necting with every railroad entering 
 Chicago. Inter-switching facilities 
 between all roads tend to speed up 
 moving of freight, and in many cases 
 freight can be moved from Elgin to 
 points East and West at a saving of 
 from 24 to 48 hours over the time it 
 takes to move same from Chicago. 
 
 Elgin has developed an Industrial 
 District, a picture of which is shown 
 on page 19. This district is located 
 on all railroads above mentioned. 
 Factory sites are available at ex- 
 
 Page twenty-two 
 
ceptionally low rates, and can be 
 obtained in lots of any size desired, 
 from one acre to fifty acres. Gas, 
 power, water, sewer, and switch 
 tracks are on the property, together 
 with transportation for workers to 
 all parts of the city. 
 
 Elgin is fortunate in having a 
 
 complete Industrial Survey just com- 
 pleted, which gives detailed infor- 
 mation on all questions of interest 
 to prospective industries seeking lo- 
 cation. This will be mailed free of 
 charge to anyone interested, by 
 addressing the Association of Com- 
 merce, 14 E. Chicago St., Elgin, 111. 
 
 EXCHANGE YOUR LOCATION FOR ELGIN 
 WHERE INDUSTRIES GROW." 
 
 Page twenty-three 
 
Photos by B. M. Pease, Elgin, 111. 
 L resigned, Engraved and Printed by Osgood Co., Chicago 
 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 3 0112 050748554