| In 1837, Babcock's Grove was connected to Chicago by a stagecoach
line which stopped at Stacy's Tavern at Geneva and St. Charles Roads.
Fertile land, the DuPage River, and plentiful timber drew farmers to
the area.
Sheldon and Harriet Peck moved from Onondaga, New York, to this area in
1837 to farm 80 acres (320,000 m2) of land. In addition, Peck was an artist
and primitive portrait painter who traveled to clients across northeastern
Illinois. The Peck house also served as the area's first school and has
been restored by the Lombard Historical Society.[3]
The 1848 arrival of
the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad provided local farmers and merchants
rail access to Chicago, and commercial buildings soon sprang up around
the train station. Lombard was officially incorporated in 1869, named after
Chicago banker and real estate developer Josiah Lombard.
Dr. William LeRoy built a home in the Italianate style on Lombard's Main
Street in 1881. Dr. LeRoy specialized in making artificial limbs for civil
war veterans and lived in this house until 1900.[4] The house would eventually
become the home of Harold Gray's parents and the studio of Harold Gray,
the originator of Little Orphan Annie cartoon strip. Harold Gray used the
home's study to work on the Annie cartoons until he remarried and moved
to the east coast. Harold Gray was a charter member of Lombard Masonic
Lodge #1098, A.F. & A.M. in 1923.[citation needed
In 1927 the estate of Colonel William Plum, a local resident, was bequeathed
to the village. The Plum property included his home, which became the village
library, and a large garden containing 200 varieties of lilac bushes. The
garden became a public park (Lilacia Park). Since 1930 Lombard has hosted
an annual Lilac Festival and parade in May. "Lilac Time in Lombard," is
a 16-day festival ending in mid-May. It starts with the Lilac Queen coronation
and her court. The grand finale is Lombard's Lilac Festival Parade.[5] |
