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During the American Civil War, 119 soldiers from Downers Grove served
in the Union Army; at least one of these was interred in the cemetery
downtown. There was an abolitionist presence in the village, and some
of the older homes are thought to have been stops on the Underground
Railroad. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was extended from
Aurora to Chicago through Downers Grove in 1862, boosting its population.
The town was incorporated in March 1873. Its somewhat unusual spelling
("Apostrophe-free since 1873") remains a minor historical mystery.
In April 1947, a Burlington Railroad Nebraska Zephyr passenger train
wreck killed two people, including the engineer. The eastbound streamliner
struck a large piece of farm equipment which had become loosened from
its flat car, and was protruding onto the adjoining track from a westbound
freight. Part of the train crashed through a wall of the Main Street
Station.
The construction of two major toll roads along the village's
northern and western boundaries, I-355 in 1989 and what is now referred
to as I-88 in 1958, facilitated its access to the rest of Chicago metro
area. Downers Grove has developed into a bustling Chicago suburb with
many diverse businesses, including the headquarters for Rossi, FTD, Travelers
Insurance, Lovejoy, ServiceMaster, Sara Lee, Swift-Eckrich,[3] Arrow
Gear,[4] Magnetrol,[5] Spiegel and Butterball. |
