Oswego Yesteryear

A look at headlines from Februaries passed.

June 1993: A long-range plan to develop a Metra commuter rail station along the Burlington Northern main line tracks north of Webster Street in Montgomery was endorsed by the village’s plan commission.

May 1983: Village of Montgomery officials and representatives of Spatz & Company of Chicago presided over ground-breaking ceremonies for the Settlers Landing shopping center at the northeast corner of Route 30 and Douglas Road in the village.

1973: Construction had started on an addition to Long Beach Elementary School in Boulder Hill. The school first opened in 1967.

40 years ago this month: Three men who declined to give their full names told the Boulder Hill Civic Association they were patrolling the unincorporated subdivision at the direction of the Kendall County Sheriff’s Department.

65 years ago this month an open house was held at the new East View Elementary School Route 71 in Oswego.

In the 1952 presidential election Nov. 4, Oswego Township voters went 3-1 for Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower over Illinois Gov. Adali Stevenson.

October 1932: The Oswego State Bank at the southeast corner of Main and Washington (Route 34) in downtown Oswego was robbed at gunpoint.

October 1962: The Oswegoland Park District Board President Ralph Wheeler announced the agency had purchased two adjoining parcels at the north end of Main Street at Jefferson Street in downtown Oswego for a future park and library site.

August 1952: The Ledger reported the Oswego Village Board voted to install a manually-operated flasher-type school traffic signal light at the corner of Madison (Route 34) and Jackson streets to allow students to safely cross the street.

The Boulder Hill Civic Association and the Oswego Business Association jointly sponsored the first community Independence Day fireworks display from the grounds at Oswego High School.

March 1952: Oswego Village President Andrew Pierce signed a proclamation declaring Good Friday as a religious holiday in the village and asked all business in the village to close between 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. to allow their employees to attend services in local churches.

February 1942: Prompt action by the Oswego Volunteer Fire Department saved the Federated Church (now the Church of the Good Shepherd) from serious damage by fire Feb. 5.

January 2002: Officials with the Dominick’s grocery chain announced they would close their store on Douglas Road in Montgomery when they opened their new store in the Oswego Commons shopping center on Route 34 later in the year.