Photo Gallery

Donna Sack, vice president, Community Engagement & Audience, welcomed The Chicago Farmers to Naper Settlement and related the plans to build an Agricultural Interactive Center. The proposed $4 million center will tell the story of agriculture in the Midwest in the 20^th and 21^st centuries and show why it is the number one industry in Illinois and how it contributes to feeding the world’s population.

Phyllis and Chuck Cassata view photographs of the Naperville farming community in the 1800s to the 1950s in the Heritage Gallery at Naper Settlement.

Alan Gunn toured the Heritage Gallery and saw artifacts that were representative of farming in Naperville. The Gallery is located in Naper Settlement’s Pre-Emption House Visitor Center, a recreation of Naperville’s first hotel and tavern built in 1834. It was named for the Pre-Emption Act, a law authorizing settlers to claim and improve parcels of land for $1.25 per acre.

Barbara Clark, TCF president, gives a thumbs up after correctly identifying kitchen gadgets that were in use during the mid to late 1800s. With Barbara is her husband, George.

Joanne Long and Steve Kowynia leave the “halfway house,” so named because the house, which was built in 1843, stood halfway between Naper Settlement and Aurora, 12 miles west, and soon became a familiar landmark. It was dubbed the “halfway house” by travelers passing between the two towns.

Jim Ward and Jeannine Warkow were among The Chicago Farmers’ group enjoying the summer gathering.

Youngsters dressed in period attire can be seen at Naper Settlement playing games that children of the 1800s played.

Churning butter and carding wool were among the responsibilities that children of the 1800s had.

Washing clothes with a washboard and metal tub was a chore that youngsters of the period had to undertake. They fetched water from the DuPage River, which is one-half mile from the Naper Settlement area, for the clothes washing.

George Faris, from left, and Bert and Jan Nicholson wait to take the tour of the Martin Mitchell mansion. The home and its surrounding 212 acres were donated by Caroline Marshall, George Martin’s daughter, to the city of Naperville for use as a museum and park in 1936. When construction began on the house in 1883, it was situated on the rural edge of downtown Naperville. The home could oversee Martin’s farmland and rock quarry pits.

Bert and Jan Nicholoson learn about the Paw Paw Post Office, which was built in the 1830s.

Ray Brownfield, center, and Jason Lestina visit with Debbie Grinnell, left, vice president, Advancement & Campus Development, and Donna Sack, vice president, Community Engagement & Audience, while touring Naper Settlement. Ms. Grinnell and Ms. Sack were The Chicago Farmers’ hostesses for the day.

The print shop was a stop on the Naper Settlement tour.

An “interpreter” talks about and demonstrates the work that a blacksmith handled during a typical day in the mid1830s in Naperville.

Sharon Perry took some time to let the kid in her have some fun.