Douglas Avenue, one of Elgin's oldest thoroughfares, has been in the process of development and redevelopment for more than a century. Originally called Mill Street, when it was included in James T. Gifford's plat of 1843, it was renamed for Sen. Stephen A Douglas after the Civil War.Over the years, the lower end became commercialized, and the stretch above Kimball Street,known as "upper Douglas," developed into a fine residential area.Along the tree-lined street are small cottages and mansions, old flats and modem apartments, and an ethnic and socio-economic mix that mirrors the city.The first family to live on what would become Douglas Avenue was pioneer settlers from New Hampshire, Phineas and Relief Kimball and their daughter, Mary Ann, arrived in June 1835.Their log cabin near the northwest comer of what is now the Kimball-Douglas intersectionwas erected before that of the town founder, P.J. Kimball Jr., who had been tailoring in Chicago,and later joined his parents' and sister.The Kimball claim on the east side encompassed much of the land between what are now Division Street, Jefferson Avenue, Dundee Avenue and the river. North of Jefferson was the Lovell farm.Although P.J. Kimball Jr. subdivided the blocks from Kimball north to Jefferson in… Full Story

Shoe Factory Road and the street names of Congdon, Ludlow, and Keep are reminders of the days when Elgin produced shoes in large numbers.After the Civil War, machine production for a national market replaced the shoes custom made by local craftsmen working in small shops. A small boot and shoe factory started up in Elgin in 1873 but was short-lived.George L. Congdon in 1881 moved his Chicago operations to Elgin, lured by money raised through local subscription. A large three-story and basement brick building was erected along Prospect Street near Slade Avenue. Residential plots were platted around the factory, which was reached by an extension of the horse car line. A big mansion located on the high terrace at the northwest comer of Cherry Street and ProspectBoulevard, still in existence, was converted into an employee boarding house.Congdon had been connected with the shoe business since boyhood and had traveled to Europe in search of improved methods. His factory was equipped with the latest laborsaving machinery and at its peak employed nearly 200.Production in this plant ended in 1886, and the building was later used to turn out chewing gum and then converted to a creamery. It was razed in 1929.A… Full Story