1925 – 100 Years Ago

At 7:30 o’clock this evening the first session of the DeKalb board of education’s night school will open at the Ellwood school at Lewis and Eleventh streets. The school will be open to all residents of DeKalb and anyone desiring to attend should be at the school this evening. The school will be open two nights a week, Tuesday and Thursday, from 7:30 until 9:30 o’clock. Work will be given in English, arithmetic, business accounting, mathematics, penmanship and citizenship. The school will be of much benefit to residents of this city who have as yet not secured their citizenship papers, as the work in citizenship will aid them in getting their papers that much sooner.

Although it is expected that the railroad crossing gates at Fourth street will not be used for a much longer period, painters for the Chicago & North Western railroad this morning started painting the gates. The gates are being painted the usual white and black color. According to one of the painters, this city has a large number of gates, one of the men stating that DeKalb has more gates at the railroad crossings than it has in Chicago. Although the statement is not true, this city has a larger number of gates at crossings.

Jake Plapp, the village blacksmith had his troubles yesterday while endeavoring to set some shoes on a dapple-gray horse that had been brought in from the country and proved to be a task. The horse was shy, and although it was necessary to tie up one front foot while the other one was being given attention, the animal endeavored to knock the shop to pieces. In one spell of unruliness, the animal reared up on its hind legs, its head striking the ceiling and the front foot about seven or eight feet above the floor. A heavy iron ring, imbedded deeply into the wall was jerked out by the animal as if it were a pin, and finally Mr. Plapp became tired of the antics of the animal and sent it home, to be brought back another day.

Work on the new burglar alarm system for the new DeKalb Trust & Savings bank building is expected to be completed the latter part of this week. The system is one of the most modern built and will give the bank the best protection possible.

1950– 75 Years Ago

DeKalb was rapidly digging out from beneath the heavy drifting snow storm which buried the community Thursday and early Friday. Main highways in the area are again open for travel but the roadways are still rough and quite slippery.

Carpenters have built a new wooden storm front over the front doors of the courthouse in Sycamore this week. The door will keep the wintry blasts from circulating through the downstairs corridors of the building entrance, but the big outer doors have proved too hard to move during cold weather and most people usually leave them open with the result that it is pretty uncomfortable in the corridors.

Chauncey B. Watson, prominent DeKalb County cattleman and civic leader was last evening installed as Governor of the Illinois Eastern Iowa district of Kiwanis International at fitting ceremonies held in the Gold Room of the Congress Hotel in Chicago.

Marvin Olson of Pleasant Street had an unusual accident Saturday at Crawfordsville, Ind. An employee of the DeKalb Agricultural Association, Mr. Olson was loading a two-wheeled cart with sacks of corn which were to be transferred to the regular truck, when the cart tipped over, and with 600 pounds of corn, fell on him. His right foot was pinned between the cart and the cement floor. He was able to drive his truck home to DeKalb and then went to the hospital for X-ray and an examination as to the amount of injury sustained. It was found no bones had been broken, although he suffered severe bruises.

With Christmas less than three weeks away the DeKalb stores will remain open on Thursday afternoons for the next three weeks in order to accommodate the Christmas shoppers. Throughout the remainder of the year the majority of the stores in this city close at noon on Thursday but remain open all-day Thursdays in December prior to the Christmas holiday.

The much-delayed stop lights for the State and California Streets intersection in Sycamore are finally about to become a reality, according to spokesmen for the DeKalb firm contracting for the job. Final installation work on the four new signals, one for each corner of the intersection, was begun Monday and should be completed this week, workmen said.

Approximately $163,000 was placed in the hands of Christmas shoppers in Sycamore yesterday when the Christmas savings checks were received from the National Bank and Trust Company in Sycamore.

1975 – 50 Years Ago

Christmas greeting to friends and neighbors will cost 10 cents if they are mailed before Dec. 28. After that date, the 10-cent stamp will join other old favorites, such as the nickel beer and the 35-cent gallon of gasoline in the “low price hall of fame.” The Office of the Postmaster General in Washington, D. C. has announced a rate increase to 13 cents for the first ounce of first-class mail.

The speed limit on Annie Glidden Road between Taylor Street and Lincoln Highway will be reduced. The first 800 feet south of Lincoln will be 30 miles per hour and the remaining portion to Taylor will be 45 m.p.h. The current limit is 55 m.p.h.

A Burlington pilot and his 17-year-old son escaped injury Saturday morning at DeKalb Municipal Airport, after their plane was blown from the runway and struck a tree. George Jenny told DeKalb police he was landing his Beechcraft Musketeer Westbound at 9:06, when a strong gust of wind from the north forced the plane off the runway and into a tree.

A lease with MST Aviation of Belvidere to operate DeKalb Municipal Airport is expected to be approved by the city council tonight. Among least terms is a minimum $4,700 monthly rent which the city will receive from MST.

2000 – 25 Years Ago

Like miniature roadside forests, they pop up every year in the abandoned parking lots, shuttered auto repair shops, and other empty spaces of towns and cities throughout northern Illinois. Independent Christmas tree dealers are a staple of the holiday season. Braving the wind and cold, and working out of empty storefronts or tiny trailers, they sell a variety of long and short needled, freshly cut trees with names like Scotch, and white pine, Fraser and balsam fir, and Colorado blue spruce.

Plans for two major shopping centers along Sycamore Road are proceeding, as retailers and developers continue to look to DeKalb as a major untapped market and the city promises high quality, nationally known stores and restaurants.

Hoping to eliminate what officials refer to as a makeshift junkyard along Sycamore Road, the state’s attorney’s office has filed its second lawsuit in five years aimed at forcing the owner of the property to clean it up. The property at 2131 Sycamore Road, once served as an animal hospital owned and operated by retired veterinarian John Nelson. It has since fallen into disrepair, with garbage, old building materials and other dilapidated items filling the small front and side yards and driveway.

Compiled by Sue Breese