lWhat was happening in Elgin years ago in May?May 1882The city marshal called a halt to Sunday baseball. One of the games was played in Lovell's pasture in the northeast part of the city.The milk condensing plant produced 38,000 quarts of milk every day.The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad established a station, to be called Plato, where its tracks cross the old state road (now U.S. 20).Thieves broke into the post office and blew open its safe. About $100 worth of postage stamps and $40 in cash was taken.The David C. Cook Publishing Co., which moved here from Chicago, was operating with about 150 workers.It snowed on May 23rd.Handsome brick stores were to replace the wooden buildings that were an eyesore on the east side of Douglas Avenue.May 1932About 15 to 20 acres of the Elgin airport were to be converted into vegetable garden plots for the unemployed.Gus Farwick, an Elgin gridiron great, was named head football coach at the University of Arizona.An airplane circled the city, throwing thousands of advertising handbills overboard in violation of city ordinance and federal regulations.Swan's advertised a five-blade, 16-inch ball-bearing lawnmower for $5.65.Federal immigration authorities visited 25 Mexican families in Elgin but found… Full Story

Bicycles have been wheeled around Elgin for more than a century. The first velocipede to appear locally was exhibited in 1869. Called a "boneshaker" because of its iron-rimmed wooden wheels, the pedals were attached to the front wheel.Major George Sherman, a Civil War veteran, was the city's first "velocipedestrian."The "ordinary," or high-wheeler, had a large diameter front wheel and a smallrear wheel, making it difficult to mount and dangerous to ride. "These high-wheelers," reported an Elgin newspaper in 1879, "have been the cause of several broken limbs, and if we don't hear of some more soon, we will be surprised. It is unsafe for pedestrians to pass on the sidewalks at times during the day."Local riders formed a club, which had 14 members in 1884. DuPage Street served as a race course.The modem "safety" succeeded the high-wheeled ordinary. It had a chain-driven rear wheel. Both wheels were of the same diameter.When they were first sold in Elgin in 1888 they had solid rubber tires. After pneumatic tires were introduced locally in 1891, interest in bicycles quickly spread."Elgin is largely on wheels," reported the weekly Advocate in 1895. "Whole families from grandfather to granddaughter have learned to bicycle and enjoy a… Full Story