Advertisement in The Daily News, March 18, 1908

PROMOTING ELGIN

Elgin a Century Ago

In 1908, Elgin, Illinois, was a bustling manufacturing and shop-ping center with a population of 25,000. More than one in five

residents were foreign born, most of them in Germany andScandinavia. The dominant industry was the Elgin National WatchCompany, the nation’s largest producer of fine-jeweled movements,but other firms turned out condensed milk, watchcases, religious lit-erature, pianos, canned vegetables, shirts, shoes, coffee mills, buttertubs, soap, and windmills.

Three big department stores—Swan’s, Ackemann’s, and Peck’s—attracted customers from a wide area who arrived downtown bystreetcars and interurban trolleys. There were a numberof specialty shops, among them several clothing and drygoods stores because of the many women employed atthe watch factory. Vaudeville played at the Opera Houseand Star Theater, and the Globe charged five centsadmission for its flickering one and two reel films.

Elgin had two general hospitals—Sherman and St.Joseph— a state hospital for the mentally ill, a YMCAand a YWCA, a public high school, a private academy,more than twenty churches, a library, and two big parks.Lords Park had a zoo and a bandstand for summer con-certs. The Gentlemen’s Driving Club held harness racesat Wing Park, and this year a swimming pool along TylerCreek and a nine-hole golf course were under construc-tion.

The fact that doctors were complaining that manyhouses had no hitching posts was an indication thatautomobiles, although increasing, were only for thewealthy. The best sellers were Reos and Buicks.

Many homes had chickens, gardens and privies in theirbackyards, and untreated sewage was discharged intothe Fox River. Ashes from coal-fired stoves and fur-naces, as well as trash, were deposited in open dumpsand vacant lots, and chimney soot gave the city a dingyappearance in winter months. Except for downtownstreets, which had brick paving, side streets were oftenmired in mud and horse droppings.

This was the year Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Showcame to town, Swan’s moved into the new Henriettabuilding on the southeast corner of Spring and DuPageStreets, and “Boost for a bigger and better Elgin! Boosttogether!” were the themes when businessmen gatheredto form a Commercial Club.

The Commercial Club, original name of what is now the Elgin Area Chamber ofCommerce, brought ENTHUSIASM and the BOOSTER SPIRIT to Elgin.

This cartoon was used to recruit members in 1908.

COMMERCIAL CLUB

T he Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce has been a leader inimproving this community’s economic base for a hundred

years. Its formation was suggested in1907 by the Retail Merchants andBusiness Men’s Association, an organ-ization concerned at that time aboutequalizing freight rates with thoseenjoyed by Joliet and Aurora and hop-ing to interest manufacturers in thisendeavor.

By the time the Club was organized,the original impetus for its creation hadshifted to attracting industry. The ElginNational Watch Company,the city’s dominantemployer, closed its bigfactory on Saturdays begin-ning February 8, 1908 andstarting on the 28th of thatmonth also shut down on

Fridays. A full-time six-day week didn’t return untilSeptember 1913. No new major employer had arrived inthe city for 15 years.

The Commercial Club, original name of the Chamber,was formed with 47 members on July 31, 1908. HarryD. Hemmens, editor and publisher of the Daily Courier,was elected president, and Conrad Ackemann, one ofthe department store brothers, was given a vote ofthanks for his efforts as chairman of the organizingcommittee. All were welcome to “boost Elgin,” and any-one desiring memberhip could join for $10. The initialpaid up members included four banks, four clothingstores, three hardware stores, three jewelry stores, twobakeries, two shoe stores, and Lasher’s saloon. A boardof control, later designated as the board of directors, was

ELGIN COMMERCIAL CLUBThe following firms have sub-

scribed and paid assessment:Leitner Bros., Ziegler Bros. Co.,

Lowrie & Black, C. B. Strohn, B. S.Pearsall, Elgin Butter Tub Co., ElginCity Banking Co., G. W. Glos, cashier,Elgin National Bank, L. N. Seaman,cashier, Elgin Silver Plate Co., PotterBros. Peck & Eaton, Inc., Jas. Mee-han, Home Savings Bank, C. O. Light-ner, Plaut & Co., H. P. Hansen, R.Mendelson, Kerber Packing Co., We-dell Bros., Edwin Hall, Fred L. Kilip,Bauer Jewer y Co., A. C. Hawkins,cashier First National Bank, CourierPub. Co., Landborg & Collins Co., Haw-thorn Hardware Co., Phil Freiler,C. and J. Kreeger, Thos. J. Juzek,Albert F. Ansel, Elgin Furniture andCarpet Co., Home National Bank, ChasE. Spillard, A. L. Metzel, cashier Un-ion National Bank, McGill Bros., H. D.Hemmens, C. G. Heywood, W. A. Root,Rovelstad Bros., W. J. Meehan, FrankShopen, Chas. F. Becker, F. M. Lash-er, J. M. Kimball, D. J. Chamberlain& Co., Geo. F. Sills, Eugene A. Logan.

DAILY NEWS, AUG. 10, 1908

authorized to engage the services of a full-time secre-tary. C. Frank Terhune of Springfield, a civil engineer,was subsequently chosen for this position. The Club wasincorporated in 1909.

Most of the first businesses the Club attracted—smalloperations making woven wire fences, gas valves, andcut glass—soon closed. The International VotingMachine Company had only one customer, the City ofElgin, before it was forced to liquidate because it was inviolation of another firm’s patents. The machines werenever used. The only enduring industry among these ini-tial efforts was the Western Thread Company, whichrelocated from Chicago in 1909. The lure was a paymentof $4,000 contingent on employing not less than 100 thefirst year and building its own factory to cost not lessthan $15,000. The annual payroll had to be at least$30,000. A. B. Collingbourne bought Western Thread in1912. By the mid-twenties, when it was known asCollingbourne Mills, it was employing about 400.

The Commercial Club also entered the civic area byinfluencing the switch from the mayor-council form of

government to the commission plan that went into effect in 1911.Elgin’s first city plan, unveiled in 1917, was prepared by the Club,funded by Charles H. Hulburd, president of The Elgin NationalWatch Co., and printed through the courtesy of the David C. CookPublishing Co. Among its recommendations was the adoption of azoning ordinance.

Chicago St.East from

Fountain Square

ASSOCIATION

After the formation of the U. S. Chamber of Commerce in 1912land the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in 1919, the “Club”

designation was considered antiquated. A new name, ElginAssociation of Commerce, was adopted in 1920, when a campaignpushed membership over the goal of 800. (Only one of the mem-bers, a doctor, was a woman.)

A booklet, “Watch Elgin,” compiledby Secretary Ernest W. Braun andpublished that year by theAssociation, trumpeted the advan-tages of doing business and living inElgin. It was an Eden “where fami-lies will find health, comfort, pros-perity, beauty of surroundings andsocial equality.” This was not theElgin described by Braun in talks tothe Business Women’sClub and the EveryWednesday Literary

Society. He deplored “smug citizens satisfied with thecity as it is” and listed some Elgin “shames”— a sewagesystem that was polluting the Fox River, an inadequatewater supply, a neglected cemetery, limited hotelaccommodations, a need for school playgrounds, ahousing shortage, and a lack of street signs.

The issue of street signs led to a front-page confronta-tion with Mayor Arwin E. Price, a six-term veteran atCity Hall, whom Braun accused of embarrassing andobstructing public improvements. The dispute wasresolved by the Association buying the signs and thecity agreeing to install them.

After reports of friction in the Association and the with-drawal of two directors, the controversial Mr. Braun left

A promotional booklet issued in 1921.

and was replaced by Eva Ciocca, the office stenogra-pher, who acted as an office manager. Because thewatch factory was expanding and draining the laborpool, the goal of attracting new industry lapsed.Although the Association sponsored the creation of anew way of supporting youth and welfare organizations,such as the Community Chest, and supported the refer-endum for a new swimming pool, there were fewachievements. The Association continued to be a clear-inghouse for information about local business condi-tions and its office quartered both the Chest and the RedCross.

By the mid-20s, membership had declined to less thanhalf of what it had been at the start of the decade.Discouraged by the relative inactivity of theAssociation, some members in September 1928 sug-gested that it should be merged into the Elgin BusinessMen’s Association. Benjamin S. Pearsall, a local mar-garine manufacturer, was a leading proponent of theidea, citing the EBMA’s “remarkable growth andaggressiveness” and declaring that the Association was“in its present state beyond reorganization.”

The Association would revive, however, spurred by a new need tofind jobs for a growing number of unemployed.

Selz Shoe Factory, 1898

THE ORIGINAL LOGO WAS ADOPTED IN 1911

THE LOGO ADOPTED IN 1973 REFLECTED THECHANGE IN NAME

ENHANCING ECONOMIC VITALITYADVOCATING FOR BUSINESSCREATING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEMBERS

MOST RECENT LOGO AND MISSION

100TH ANNIVERSARY LOGO

DEPRESSION

Even before the New York Stock Exchange crash inOctober 1929, the local economy was collapsing

after a sharp reduction in housing starts, a drop in thewatch factory’s work force and hours, and the closing ofthe shoe factory. Once again seeking new industriesbecame imperative. Orson Pratt was engaged as a pro-fessional secretary, and the Association published “TheStory of Elgin.” The booklet rhapsodized: “(T)here’sone garden spot in this world of reality where pleasantthings of life are constantly shunning the distastefulthings into the background, one place where there’salways sunshine and friendship in life no matter howdark the clouds of trouble. Yes, real people live in Elgin,Illinois.”

The clouds became very dark with the deepeningDepression. The Association in 1930 was instrumental

in getting the B-G Garment Company to occupy the vacant shoefactory building, but the unemployment rolls soared and small busi-nesses were going into receivership. In 1932, the Association joinedthe Buy American Movement and urged local shoppers to demandU. S. made goods.

By January 1933, the number of equivalent full-time employees atthe watch factory was down to about 480—less than fifteen percentof what it had been in 1929.

The officers and directors of the Association appealed to the publicfor $10,000 to encourage the Allied Shoe Co. to occupy a nowvacant shirt factory. The gift was contingent on the firm spendinghalf a million dollars in payroll its first five years.

“We in Elgin are facing the most serious crisis we have everknown,” declared the appeal, pointing out that nearly half the fami-lies in the city had no wage income. The fund drive was successful,and the desperate need for jobs was evident when Allied beganreceiving applications on July 20, 1933. A small army of

unemployed men and women estimated at 1200 swarmed theiroffices. The line began forming between six and seven in the morn-ing, even though processing wouldn’t begin until 9:30.

Conditions were still grim in 1937 when the Association contractedwith the McGraw Electric Company, a manufacturer of automatictoasters, to relocate from Minneapolis and build an industrial planton the St. Charles Street road. The Association agreed to raise$25,000 for the factory site, extending water and sewer connections,and a railroad siding. The money was raised by another publicappeal, and 276 businesses and individuals responded. Notablyabsent was a contribution from the Elgin National Watch Co., andits opposition may have been responsible for locating the site out-side the city limits. The city government cooperated by re-openinga southeast end fire station and providing fire protection. TheCourier-News applauded the “unfaltering effort on the part of theElgin Association of Commerce to bring…this growingconcern to the city.”

When the first Elgin-made Toastmaster was assembledin March 1938, there were still 500 on federal govern-ment work-relief projects. By the end of the year,McGraw had more than 800 on its payroll.

Photograph from the Elgin Area Chamber archives.

Crowds thronged downtown streets at the annual Dollar Days and SidewalkSales. The Association of Commerce coordinated the promotional advertising

POSTWAR

During the Second World War, the Association had a new slogan—“Production for Victory”—and assumed a leading role in war

bond drives, but its usual functions became dormant.

The severe housing shortage in Elgin following the war hamperedrecruitment of employees for industries busily re-converting to peace-time production, especially with the arrival of a Majestic Radio &Television plant. The Chamber vigorously encouraged the constructionof public housing, and the 24 temporary barracks-type units of a for-mer military base were erected in 1948 along Highway 58.

Following the enactment of state legislation allowing the formation ofcouncil-manager government in Illinois cities, the Association’s boardof directors authorized its executive secretary, Albert H. Brant, to givea series of educational talks to civic and church groups on this form oflocal government. Brant also assisted in the formation of a citizen’scommittee to work for its adoption in Elgin. In 1954, voters approvedof the new form of government in a referendum.

THE RETAIL BONANZA

The Elgin Business Men’s Association, concentrating on its cred-it bureau services, turned over its retail promotions to the

Association of Commerce in 1954, just when the city’s role as ashopping center was starting to grow with the westward movementof the Chicago metropolitan area. The Meadowdale development ofCarpentersville, north of Elgin, opened sale of its prefabricatedhomes in 1953. The villages of Streamwood (incorporated in 1956)and Hanover Park (incorporated in 1958) were rising out of HanoverTownship cornfields. South Elgin’s population doubled between1950 and 1960. The young families in these new towns, the rapidlygrowing older villages, and the new subdivisions in Elgin dependedon the city’s services and boosted retail sales.

Elgin’s central business district flourished with three major depart-ment stores—Joseph Spiess Co., Ackemann’s, and Sears &Roebuck—and many specialty shops. In addition to lots providedby stores, in 1957 the city embarked on an off-street parking pro-gram. The Association coordinated advertising in newspapers andradio for the popular Dollar Days, Sidewalk Sales, andRed Tag Days. On one of these occasions, advertise-ments ballooned one issue of the Courier-News to 44pages. The Association also provided downtownChristmas decorations and encouraged beautification ofthe area.

“All Roads Lead to Elgin, the Best Spot to Shop inNortheast Illinois,” trumpeted a big Association ad inthe Courier-News in 1967. “Any Need, AnyPrice…Elgin has more of everything.”

Retail growth was astounding. Sales Management mag-azine in a 1972 survey of buying power estimated thatsales, including automotive, in the Elgin Trade Zonewere in excess of those in the entire state of Delawareand almost twice those of the state of Wyoming. Thisincrease in retail trade and medical services (additionsto Sherman Hospital brought the number of beds from

225 in 1951 to 338 in 1964) prevented economic col-lapse when the watch factory wound down.

The opening of Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg in 1971and the nearby Spring Hill Mall in Dundee Township in1981 marked the end of Elgin’s downtown as a majorshopping center. The construction of a Fountain SquarePlaza Mall in 1975-76 did not stem the closing ofanchor stores. The mall was in trouble as early as 1980,and was abandoned in 1994.

Al Brant, second from left, executive secretary from 1950 to1971, originated the idea of Elgin’s industrial parks and was

instrumental in routing the Tollway through Elgin when the statehad planned to locate it further North. Each year he would take

the newly elected chamber president to Washington andintroduce him to our senators and congressmen.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Hard hit by the growing demand for disposable watches and for-eign competition, by 1957 the Elgin National Watch Co. was

making a higher return on its Swiss imports than its domestic pro-duction. It was last year the firm would paya dividend. Once again, the Association wason the hunt for new industry, and in 1957, itorganized the Elgin Industrial DevelopmentCo. The money obtained from the sale ofshares to the general public was used toacquire the 188-acre Ottinger farm inHanover Townshp for development as abuilding site.

The main purpose of economic develop-ment is to create jobs for community resi-dents. A new industry will also need servic-es from existing businesses. Businesses andindustries pay more taxes than homeownersdo, but unlike families, don’trequire public schools that take

a major portion of property taxes. There is a directcorrelation between economic development and resi-dential property values.

Except for a city government bond issue in 1869 toattract a state mental hospital, economic developmentwas left to private capital. Four investors, for example,bought a factory site and subscribed to $25,000 in stockto attract a newly organized watch company that wouldbecome the city’s dominant industry and the world’slargest manufacturer of fine-jeweled movements. TheDavid C. Cook Publishing Co., now the city’s oldestbusiness, in 1882 accepted a $4,000 payment to relocatefrom Chicago. A syndicate of investors, the ElginImprovement Association, was formed in 1884 to “pro-vide business enterprise” and “introduce and developmanufactories.” It bought vacant land, subdivided it into

M. Edward Kelly, executivevice president from 1977 to1995, encouraged foreigncompanies to build plantsin Elgin and lobbied for theconstruction of the RandallRoad interchanges thatopened area propertiesfronting the Tollway.

lots around the factory buildings it offered to new indus-tries, and sold them to their employees. This practice ofprivate inducements was continued by the Associationin its recruiting of Allied Shoe, McGraw Electric, and itspurchase of the Ottinger farm.

In 1962, this reliance of private enterprise was aban-doned. The city council, concerned about the sharpdecline in watch factory payrolls, established the ElginIndustrial Development Commission that selected anexecutive director. (The name was changed to ElginEconomic Development Commission in 1965.) One ofits functions was to seek out and interview the manage-ment of various industries that may be of interest inlocating their plants and facilities within the city. Amajor success of the EDC, a credit card processor nowcalled Chase Card Services, arrived in 1973. It was orig-inally the Bank Americard division of the First NationalBank of Chicago, and its name was changed with suc-cessive bank mergers to Visa to First Card and then FirstUSA. Starting with 360 employees, it now has morethan 3,000 in a complex opened along Westfield Drive.

In 1978, the Chamber and the city agreed to a working partnershipto expand employment opportunities. The city’s development effortswere later integrated with the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce (achange in name adopted in 1973) that resulted in 42 new membersfrom Algonquin to St. Charles within a year. According to EdwardKelly, the Chamber’s executive vice president, the city could providenecessary infrastructure, the resources needed to purchase sites,industrial revenue bonds, and tax increment financing. TheChamber, subsidized by the city, could in turn offer confidentiality,coordinate meetings and appointments for the prospect or localemployer seeking to expand, provide the assistance of its member-ship, and maintain a data bank of information.

Initially the city made an annual payment of $12,000 to the Chamber,a figure that has since increased to more than $200,000. In 2000, theChamber launched a Challenge 21 Campaign with a goal of

$1,750,000 to increase the availability of skilled and unskilled work-ers, to retain existing businesses, to implement a positive public rela-tions program to enhance the city’s image, and to recruit “high tech”and “research and development” companies.

To assist in the city’s expansion west of Randall Road, the Chambersuccessfully lobbied for Randall Road exit ramps off the I-90Tollway. The city made possible an abundant water supply from theFox River when it opened the Riverside Water Treatment Plant in1983, and subsequently expanded its capacity.

Key land parcels were developed by the city. It purchased propertythat was once a part of the state hospital grounds that became theFox Bluff Corporate Center, where the FAA’s TRACON (TerminalRadar Approach Control) began operations in 1996, and in 1984purchased and began clearing the land between Wellington Avenueand the river that was occupied in part by the Grand Victoria Casinoin 1994. In 2004 and 2006, Site Selection magazine recognized thecity-Chamber partnership as one of the most successful in NorthAmerica.

St. Joseph Hospital in 1904.

CHANGES

The slogans have changed over the hundred years—“Keep Elgin Ahead,” “Elgin—Known the World

Over,” “Watch Elgin,” “Progress Through Participation,“Production for Victory,” and “Elgin—It’s HappeningHere!”—but they have all been evidence of the boosterspirit that has motivated the Elgin Area Chamber ofCommerce since its inception.

The Chamber’s offices have moved frequently. Theyhave been in the Strauss Block on South Grove, in theProfessional Building on Division, and several locationson East Chicago. More recently, the Chamber has occu-pied space in the former Spiess department store, andnow is a tenant in a city-owned building that was oncethe F. W. Woolworth store.

The full-time executive was originally called the secre-tary. Eventually the title became executive vice presi-

dent, and was changed to president in 1995, when the former pres-ident became the board chair.

Year after year the Chamber’s full-page ad in the city directory stat-ed that membership was open to “any manufacturing company,retail concern, business or professional man….” Then, in 1984, the“professional man” was changed to “professional person.” Thisrevision was the result of the election of Audrey Schick as the firstwoman president (now chair) of the Chamber in 1983.

The Chamber has undertaken a number of odd jobs from time totime. It served as a collection agency for contributions to the publictelevision station in Chicago. Worried by the possible outcry frombird lovers, the city quietly commissioned the Chamber to eradicatethe hundreds of pigeons that once infested the business district.

Three community organizations active today were originated in theChamber offices: the Elgin Area Convention and Visitors Bureau in1984, the Elgin Leadership Academy in 1991, and the DowntownNeighborhood Association in 1998.

The Chamber in 2008

Elgin now has four times its population and area than in 1908.The watch factory has vanished, and the main shopping center

has shifted from downtown to Randall Road. The largest employersare in the service sector—the school district,the hospitals, the casino, and financial insti-tutions—although manufacturing is still sig-nificant. Leo Nelson, the current president,describes the Chamber today:

“What is the Elgin Area Chamber ofCommerce all about? My immediate answeris that our Chamber has been a collectivevoice and leader of the Elgin area businesscommunity for a hundred years. Businesseslooking for a friendly advocate, a place tonetwork or solve a problem can usually findit at the Chamber.

“Our Chamber mirrors the community weserve. Just as Elgin’s neighborhoods and

population are proudly diverse, so are our businesses.

“Members range from small home-based operations toregional, national, and international corporations. Mostlikely, the Chamber means something different to everyone of them. Our services must be as diverse as theirneeds.

“On the economic development front, we promotecommerce and stimulate economic growth. For ourestablished businesses, we work to keep them and helpthem expand.

“For prospective businesses, we often serve as the firststep for information on relocation. We often find theright agency, business, or person to meet their require-ments, saving them both time and frustration.”

Leo Nelson, Elgin’s citymanager, 1972-1984, hasbeen Chamber presidentsince 2000. He brings to theoffice an understanding ofmunicipal government,business experience as anexecutive at Hoffer Plastics,and knowledge of thecommunity as a long timeresident.

1908 - 1909 Harry D. Hemmens1910 - 1911 Joseph Newman1911 - 1913 E.S. Eno1913 - 1916 Arthur Leath1916 - 1918 B.S. Pearsall1918 - 1920 Arthur L. Paulson1920 - 1921 Sam T. Peterson1921 - 1922 T.J. Schmitz1922 - 1924 Con M. Buel1925 - 1926 Edwin Hall1926 - 1929 Thomas J. Juzek1929 - 1931 Joseph C. Spiess1931 - 1932 William H. Brady1932 - 1933 Allen B. Woodard1933 - 1934 Charles D. McArthur1934 - 1935 A. C. Rhodes1935 - 1937 Harry C. Daniels1938 - 1939 C.S. Leech1940 - 1941 Earl R. Shopen1942 - 1943 G. Radcliffe Stevens1944 - 1945 LeRoy A. Mote1946 - 1947 Paul E. Schickler1948 - 1949 Earl H. Gromer1950 John W. Johnson1951 Orlo E. Salisbury1952 Fletcher C. Lamphere1953 Charles G. Siedel1954 William M. Brandes1955 John E. Spiess1956 Raymond M. Pearsall1957 Frederick F. Cramer1958 Lyle A. Ziegler1959 William K. Child1960 Gerald M. Biggers1961 Richard H. Gromer1962 Royal C. Muntz1963 Robert A. Hoffer1964 William K. Pierce1965 William H. Lovell1966 Robert L. Holt1967 Frederick G. Simpson

1968 Harold H. Jordan1969 Jerome F. McGill1970 Albert R. Stevens1971 Walter D. Phillips1972 - 1973 John C. Schmidtke, Jr.1974 Charles F. Stevenson1975 Gregg Ziegler1976 William E. Manning1977 George L. Perucco1978 Robert C. Fitzsimons1979 F. Thomas Michels1980 Thomas S. Rakow1981 Donald G. Kumorek1982 Delvin W. Johnston1983 - 2007 Audrey Schick1984 Daryl L. Klinger1985 Thomas J. Euen1986 David F. Muntz1987 Terry R. Jones1988 Richard Jakle1989 Ronald S. Pavlik1990 Sue Ann Reed1991 Raymond F. Dalton, Jr.1992 Charles Burnidge1993 George Cumpata1994 Terry Dunning1995 William Kasko1996 Leo Nelson1997 Richard Nay1998 Larry Narum1999 Bruce Molander2000 Jim Rouzer2001 Tom Anderson2002 Cathy Hurlbut2003 Pat Hudgens2004 Scott Reining2005 Judy Hines2006 Carolyn Kirk-Likou2007 Cheryl Wendt2008 David Strahl

ELGIN AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCEPRESIDENTS AND CHAIRS

ELGIN CHAMBER OF COMMERCEEXECUTIVES

1908 - 1911 C. Frank Terhune1911 - 1914 Elmer D. Howell1915 - 1917 Ernest H. Krueger1917 - 1918 Fred W. Wyatt1918 - 1919 George H. Anderson1919 John B. Abell1919 - 1921 E.W. Braun1922 - 1929 Eva M. Ciocca (Mrs. T.J. Schmitz)1929 - 1932 Orson B. Pratt1932 - 1938 Harold G. Lawrence1939 - 1941 William D. Stansil

1941 - 1943 Albert C. Boyd1943 - 1945 Francis C. Spence1945 Harold P. Echternach1947 - 1950 L. Bowden DeForest1950 - 1971 Albert Brant1971 - 1972 Gerald G. McComb1973 - 1976 Harold Gossman1976 - 1995 M. Edward Kelly1995 - 1998 Don I. Rinehart1998 - 2000 Robert G. Carlile2000 - Leo Nelson

Chicago Street West from Grove Ave.

On the occasion of its centennial, theChamber salutes current members that were

functioning a hundred or more years ago.

1836 Kane County

1840 First United Methodist Church

1850 Elgin Township

1854 City of Elgin

1856 Elgin Academy

1858 Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

1865 St. John’s Lutheran School

1867 Second Baptist Church

1873 School District U46

1874 Gail Borden Public Library

1876 Courier-News

1882 YMCA

1886 Elgin Corrugated Box

1887 Elgin Woman’s Club

1887 St. Joseph Catholic School

1888 Sherman Hospital

1896 Larkin Center

1897 Village of South Elgin

1901 YWCA

1902 Provena St. Joseph Hospital

1903 Elgin Sweeper

1906 IHC Construction Companies

Advertisement in The Elgin Daily News, March 17, 1908

Congratulations to the Elgin Area Chamberof Commerce on its 100th Anniversary

and thanks to our good friend, Mike Alft,for writing this book.

—Jack and Marlene Shales

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

This limited edition gift was made possible

through the generosity of Jack and Marlene Shales

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The Chamber would like to thank

Patrick Gieske

for allowing us to scan some postcards from his

colllection to use in this publication.