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1921 – 100 YEARS AGO
Fire, believed to have been caused from sparks from the chimney set fire to the roof of the house on North Third Street owned by Jacob Haish and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Gust Carlson. The fire had gained considerable headway before being discovered, and considerable chemical was necessary before the fire was extinguished. Mr. Haish, sitting in his home across the street, came out to investigate but when he saw the fire was in the roof, quickly returned to his easy chair. The damage will not exceed $25.
Chicago, Ill. – Mrs. Louis Vaughn Merritt, 83, bride of four months, today sued Samuel Merritt, 82 for divorce. This is what they told the judge. She: “He was very cruel. He drove me out of his home.” He: “She vamped me.” This is what they told L. J. Legner, license clerk, four months ago: She: “Love has no age.” He: “Love never grows old.” They met at a G.A.R. picnic.
In the window of the First National Bank is a large picture drawn by the architect, showing how the township high school will look when the proposed addition has been completed. The building according to the architect’s drawing will present a far better appearance when the improvements are made.
Work of building culverts may be accomplished this fall, thus doing away with considerable delay next spring. Contractor Jacks, building the north and south cement road, has the Sycamore road closed. The work of building the culverts it is understood, will take about 30 days’ time and possibly longer and it is predicted by some that the road will not be open until about Thanksgiving time.
Corn picking has started in earnest on many farms in this vicinity, many of the farmers using the corn picking machines. Now that the first heavy frost has been reported, it is likely that those not having machines will get busy and the snappers and the bag board will be in evidence. Most of the corn around here is standing very well and machine work is an easy task. The fellows who will snap corn this fall will not have much stooping to do on this account.
Due to the quick thinking of the gateman at Fourth Street yesterday afternoon, some auto owner, whose name was not obtainable today, still remains in possession of his car. The 5:27 train would have smashed the car into kindling wood if the gateman had not flagged the passenger. The car in trying to get across the crossing became lodged between the rails and the planks and was not able to get out on its own power. The gateman grabbed his danger lantern and flagged the train while several fellows got hold of the car and extricated it from the rails.
1946 – 75 YEARS AGO
A freight car loaded down with sacked barley fractured a drawbar at Cortland about 2:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon. The car jumped the tracks and for a distance of about 50 feet one section of track was torn up. A wrecker was called out from Chicago and after working for several hours had the car back on the tracks. A crew worked from mid-afternoon to after midnight before the damaged section of the tracks could be repaired. Traffic on the road was forced to use the cross-over system during the period that the repair work was being done.
Last August, a suit was filed in the Circuit Court at Sycamore by the Burlington and Quincy railroad asking that the court review action of the Illinois Department of Aeronautics in granting Roger S. Vincent of Sandwich a class one airport. In recent action, the suit has been settled out of court. The railroad objected to the airport on the grounds that the manner in which it was laid out proved to be a menace to trains and their personnel.
Anticipating the largest entry since the organization of the club, the Kishwaukee Rabbit and Cavy Breeders are making final preparations of the fall table show which will be staged at Hopkins Park on Oct. 6.
Bernard Seifer, president of the Diamond Wire and Cable Co., announced yesterday that the war plant, known as the south mill operated by the Anaconda Wire and Cable Co. during the war, will begin operations approximately Nov. 1. The south mill was sold to the Diamond Wire firm recently by the War Assets Administration. At the present time officials are working on building up the organization that will be at the Sycamore plant.
Sycamore’s airport east of the Community Park may be plowed under the ground Oct. 16. An unfortunate situation has developed in which Darrel Carls, manager of the port, could not obtain the lease from the Leader Oil Company.
1971 – 50 YEARS AGO
Construction of 15,000 square feet of new office space and the remodeling of existing offices at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau building has been announced. The building program is expected to start this week. An 8,200-square-foot addition will be made in what is now the southwest parking lot. A basement auditorium, storage areas, and offices will be included in the plans for the addition.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still investigating one of the largest fish kills in the county. An alderman spotted a number of dead fish by the College Avenue Bridge and called city officials. It was the second time in less than a week that officials had been in DeKalb. In September, 24 EPA officials estimated 200 to 300 fish died from lack of oxygen in the Kishwaukee in the Huber Park area.
In the latter years of the 19th century, superfluous embellishment ornamented the homes of the prospering country. This means of attracting attention to one’s home was called the “gingerbread” treatment. There was no one who loved this more than Jacob Haish. His own home, and those he built for others in DeKalb, included a distinct type of this white scrollwork trim. It was his mark of distinction.
1996 – 25 YEARS AGO
Since the Senior Services Center in DeKalb was founded 24 years ago by the Family Service Agency, it has evolved into a multi-purpose center, offering diverse services to persons 60 years of age and older throughout DeKalb County. The senior population of DeKalb County has grown significantly during the last 15 years, and the center has had to change and expand in order to meet the changing needs of the county’s’ senior population.
Barb City Manor, 680 Haish Blvd., represents a different concept in affordable retirement living with security, dignity and independence. It is not a nursing home, but rather a modern facility (the former DeKalb Public Hospital) redesigned to accommodate singles or couples, 60 and over, who are ambulatory and who desire to lead an active life.
One Genoa Company believes it has struck black gold, not by tapping into oil, but in the scrap rubber from the millions of tires that would otherwise find their way into landfills or incinerators. PaceMat and its partners in the once abandoned Falls Products building are converting the used rubber taken from retreaded tires into rubber mats for a variety of uses such as rubberized railroad crossings, even a softer ground cover for school playgrounds.
– Compiled by Sue Breese