Sin-Qua-Sip
Sin- Qua-Sip,"
the Indian name for Sugar Grove, had its beginning in the Spring
of 1834 at what is now known as Bliss Woods Forest Preserve.
Six men, coming from different areas of the east, met at Black
Swamp, Ohio, and decided to journey west together. These men,
Asa McDole, James and Issac Isbell, their nephew Parmeno Isbell, James Carmen
and Mr. Bishop, were the founding fathers of Sugar Grove. At
this time, the area was populated by Indians, hence when these
men arrived, they found an abandoned Indian sugar camp where
they took shelter in a brush wigwam, until they were able to
build their first log cabin. In 1835, the first white women
to arrive were the mother and sister of James and Issac and
their brother Lyman and his wife who arrived in the spring of
1835.
In 1839
and the 1840's, the United States Surveyors came to survey
and layout the section lines. These sections were one square
mile and were sold at an auction in Chicago in 1842 for $1.25
an acre.
The Village
of Sugar Grove was incorporated in 1957 with a population
of 125. At that time, municipal offices were located in the
basement of the Community House. Sugar Grove remained predominantly
a farming community until the early 1960's when residential
development began on the east side of Route 47. Development
continued on the west side of Route 47 throughout the 1970's,
with annexation of Dugan Woods subdivision occurring in 1977.
Development of the Windstone, Black Walnut Trails, Strafford
Woods, Mallard Point, and Chelsea Meadows subdivisions began
in late 1980's and has continued into the late 1990's. The
late 1990's into the early 2000's saw the development of Windsor
Pointe and the Walnut Woods Subdivision.
Under
a newly adopted State Constitution, the first town meeting in
Sugar Grove was held April 2, 1850 at the home of S.G. Paull,
at the southwest corner of Bliss Road and Route 47. The 1850
Census lists 136 families and 720 people in the township. The Annual
Meetings were held at the Town House north of Sugar Grove.
After it burned in 1874, it was built in present day Sugar
Grove, on Main Street, where the Community House now stands.
Electricity
came to town in 1925. The Northern Illinois Gas pipelines were laid out
in 1963The water system was a private system, owned
by Kitty Lorah, and evolving from the Old Hotel. Pipes were
in the ground and the billing was just a rate paid to Mrs.
Lorah. In 1948, the Sugar Grove Water District was formed.
Well #1 was dug behind the fire house on Main Street and pipes
were laid to all homes within the Village.
The Village
was incorporated in 1957 with the sewer system being installed
in 1974. By this time the Village had assumed control of the
water system, and Well #2 was dug and the water tower was
erected. .The phones
originally were connected by an operator living in the Old
Hotel, then in a residence on Maple Street and later on the
second floor of Keck's Store. The first switching building
was located behind Keck's Store. The present day building
was built on Main Street north of Cross Street in 1983.
When
the first settlers arrived, transportation was limited to old
Indian trails. The dirt roads which were laid out by the
1860's were paved during the period 1920-1960. The present
day Sugar Grove was established at its present site, when
the Chicago and Iowa Railroad was platted in 1871. The depot
was located in the Old Hotel until a building was provided
by the railroad.The Chicago,
Burlington, and Quincy Railroad bought the Chicago and Iowa
Railroad in 1881. A stock yard to load cattle was south of
Main Street. This railroad was an essential link for farmers
and their agricultural business as well as providing transportation
for the residents of the community. In 1970, the Burlington
Northern was formed when the CB&Q merged with several
western railroads. When Amtrak took over passenger service,
they discontinued passenger trains on this track. The depot
was torn down in the 1970's. In 1996, the Burlington
Northern merged with the Santa Fe and the railroad is now
known as the Burlington Northern
Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF).
The
topography of Sugar Grove-prairie, timber and water made it
ideal for farming, which was the first real business in the
Township. On the
busiest east-west roadway, Chicago to Dixon, in 1833, the
first tavern/inn was opened.A sawmill
and dam was built by Asa, Rodney and Jesse McDole in 1836,
but was washed out in 1857 and moved to Iowa.In 1839,
P.Y. Bliss opened a merchandise store at the corner of Bliss
and Merrill Roads which drew trade form Dundee, Yorkville,
Shabbona, and the eastern edge of Kane County.Dairying
was an important business for numerous years. A cheese factory
was located on the corner of Galena and Densmore Roads in
1866. It was awarded a blue ribbon for its cheese at the World's
Columbian Exposition in 1893. Col. Ingham's farm (on Galena
Blvd.) also had a cheese factory.The grain
elevator, offices, lumber, grain and coal businesses were
located south of the tracks. J.S. Miller's store, just north
of the tracks, housed an ice cream parlor, a pool hall, and
the Post Office at one time.In 1893,
Will E. Keck and a few others formed the Sugar Grove Supply
Co. Items from hardware to food could be purchased. The business
was in the Keck family until 1980.In the
early 1890's, Kitty Lorah owned Uncle Tom's Cabin (Old Hotel).
Her Sunday and family style dinners drew people from al around
the area. Another eating establishment, the House of Plenty,
was built in 1961 and is still in operation today as the Fireside Grille.The Bank
of Sugar Grove (now Old Second) opened in February 1975.
The
history of education in Illinois first approached in the year
1787 when an ordinance consecrated 1/36 of Illinois soil to
common schools. The first law to go into the statutes of this
state (1818) gave 3% of all rest of the land to education. In 1836
Mr. H.B. Densmore helped build a log house near the corner
of Denny and Bliss Roads to be used as a school. He taught
there for a time. This one burned down, and another was constructed
just east of there, and was known as the Valley View School
or Denny School. This one room school was to become one with
the longest history of any of the numerous schools in the
Township. By 1878 there were seven schools in the Township.A need
for a school of higher education for the children of the area,
became reality due to the vision and hard work of Thomas Judd
and Professor Frank Hall. The Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial
School opened for classes in the fall of 1875 with an enrollment
of 100 students. This frame building burned to the ground
in January of 1905 and was rebuilt of brick on the site. Students
completing the course of study at this school were qualified
to teach. With the consolidation of 1949, the school was incorporated
into the newly formed Kaneland Community Unit School District 302, where students
today are enrolled at a central campus near Maple Park.The idea
of a junior college for the area started in 1961. The Junior
College Act of 1965 motivated the establishment of Community
College District and in the Fall of 1967 classes were held
in local high schools, churches and civic buildings in surrounding
communities. The Waubonsee
Community College Campus was opened for classes in 1969.Sugar
Grove Fire Protection District was organized July 9, 1942 as
a volunteer organization.
In August 1972, thirteen women became
active firewomen. This was the first fire department in the
Midwest to have women as active firewomen.
Homes
provided the first place of worship. The Methodists held their
first quarterly meeting in 1839 in the frame house built by
P.Y. Bliss at the corner of Bliss and Merrill Roads. Today,
there are several churches in the Sugar Grove area providing
numerous services for the community.
For additional historical information please visit the Historical Society's website at:
www.sugargrovehistory.org
