June 30, 2025
Shaw Local
Readers Choice | Best of the FoxLocal EventsDealsNewsletter | Best of the Fox

Discover downtown Oswego secrets during history tour

By BEST OF THE FOX
Oswego’s dusty Main Street in 1910 has given way to modern shops, offices, and restaurants. Find out how Oswego’s historic downtown business district evolved during the past century and a half as the Oswegoland Heritage Association, in partnership with the Oswegoland Park District presents “Oswego History Tour – Downtown” at noon Sunday, June 12.

Oswego’s dusty Main Street in 1910 has given way to modern shops, offices and restaurants. Find out how Oswego’s historic downtown business district evolved during the past century and a half as the Oswegoland Heritage Association, in partnership with the Oswegoland Park District, presents “Oswego History Tour – Downtown” at noon Sunday, June 12. (photo provided by the Little White School Museum)

All communities evolve and change with time, and Oswego is no different. Once home to three auto dealerships, a cigar factory, a roller-skating rink, harness makers, a fire station and farm implement dealers, the community’s downtown business district dramatically changed during the past 150 years.

Join the Oswegoland Heritage Association, partnering with the Oswegoland Park District, at noon Sunday, June 12, for a leisurely, one-hour stroll up and down Main Street between Jefferson and Washington streets.

Association guides Ted Clauser and Linda Dean will point out historic landmarks, talk about the types of stores and businesses that first appeared when the village was newly formed in the 1830s, discuss the critical role that fires had in shaping the village, and explore the significant changes that have occurred, especially with the explosive population growth during the past 50 years that profoundly affected Oswego.

The tour, aimed at those age 16 and older, will begin and end at the Little White School Museum, 72 Polk St., and last about an hour. Participants will walk from the museum two blocks to Main Street for the tour, and so should expect mild walking conditions.

Registration, at $5, is required by calling the Oswegoland Park District at 630-554-1010 or by visiting oswegolandparkdistrict.org/. Since space is limited for the walk, register as soon as possible.

For information about the tour or about the museum, call 630-554-2999 or visit littlewhiteschoolmuseum.org.