Downers Grove - hometown W/O
Written: Dec 27 '03 (Updated Dec 31 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: A Home Sweet Home
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: Downers Grove is a family orientated town. Very friendly and down to earth.
|
|
|
| kellyintampa's Full Review: Downers Grove, Illinois |
Well - here's my long awaited hometown w/o. Better late than never. I started it - but never completed it due to the holidays approaching so fast! Now they've gone just as fast.
Anyways, I wanted to share some facts and memories of my hometown Downers Grove, Illinois.
____________________________________________________________
I grew up in a town in Illinois called Downers Grove. It's located about 19 miles west of Chicago.
Through the years, Downers Grove has prospered and grown from a small farming community to a Chicago suburb with well over 50,000 residents, outstanding schools and a very active village government.
Downers Grove dates back to a settler named Pierce Downer, a 50-year-old-man from New York State who came to Illinois seeking farmland in May 1832. He camped in an oak grove on the prairie and staked his claim.
There's an area on Main Street (located) in downtown Downers Grove. Within this area there's still some of the remaining stores that day back to the early 1940's.
The historical Tivoli hotel, theater and bowling alley still remain. Check out the link below to see what it looks like. It's amazing! I had some fun times at all three!! (lol)
http://www.classiccinemas.com/history/tivoli.asp
***********************************************************
The Main Street Cemetery is the final resting-place of approximately 100 members of Downers Grove and the early families that dates back to the 1850's.
There's also over 49 parks including Hummer Park, McCollum Park, Gilbert Park and more.
Downers Grove is in my opinion a big town. There's a north side and a south side. My mother and grandparents grew up originally on the south side and in a neighborhood that was surrounded with all of our relatives, cousins, aunts, etc. (There last name is "Anderson" - so the neighborhood was nicknamed "Andersonville". They than bought a house on the north side of Downers Grove and my mom and her brothers attended Downers Grove North High School (which opened in 1928)
I grew up on the south side of Downers Grove and attended Downers Grove South High School (which opened in 1964).
The South side seems more modernized than the north side. The north side has allot of historical parks, sites and landmarks. As well as some really old homes that date back to the 1800's. It also still has some of the original brick paved roads.
There's activities going on at different times of the year. In the summer - they have "Heritage Festival". This next year will be their 23rd Annual. It's usually held around the end of June in downtown Downers Grove.
They also have a Christmas in July Arts & Crafts Festival.
In the Fall, they have "Fall Festival", In the winter ,"Ice Sculpture Festival" - which this festival features an ice carving contest with professional carvers competing for prize money. Ice sculptures are on display at the Main Street Train Station, throughout the downtown, and at the Downers Grove Museum.There's free trolley rides that takes you around to view the carvings.
I guess you could say they are very "festive". lol
***********************************************************
One of my favorite memories is when we had a big snow storm when I was about 11 or 12. My brother & I had so much fun in the snow making huge snow forts and snowman. We'd take our sled or our round tobaggon and walk up this huge hill that everyone would sled down. It took you forever to get to the top and just a quick minute to slide down, but it sure was fun!!
I miss it! (Of course I'm older now) I moved away because all of my family moved to Florida. I try to go back at least once or twice a year. Which is getting harder and harder to do. (with the costs of flying, getting time off from work and the fear of flying since all of the 911 incidents)
I'll always have a place in my heart though for my hometown of "Downers Grove". If you ever pass thru - stop and check things out. I promise you won't be disappointed.
For other reviews on this write-off - please click on the link below. Thanks for reading
http://www.epinions.com/content_3548618884
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Families
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
kellyintampa
|
|
Member: Kelly
Location: Spring Hill, Florida USA
Reviews written: 50
Trusted by: 56 members
About Me:
I enjoy spending time with family!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.