Naperville 1920 Flashback: Cornerstone Day

Naperville’s North Central College has not always been called North Central nor has it always been in Naperville. The Evangelical Association of America founded Plainfield College in 1861 with the idea of “uniting a liberal arts education with religious teaching”* and offered a coeducational program from the very beginning. By 1864, the school’s name was changed from Plainfield to North-Western College in the hopes of attracting a more regional student body.

After weathering the Civil War, the college’s administration considered further plans for growth. The college was located right downtown, near modern-day Route 59, but Plainfield was not then reachable by railroad and the administrators concluded they would do better in a railroad town.

After much research into various nearby towns and several deal-making discussions, North-Western College decided on Naperville which offered both land and money towards a new building. The cornerstone for Old Main was laid on May 17, 1870, and with extensive work, was completed in time for dedication by October 4 and the fall semester.

Cornerstone Day was especially celebratory in May of 1920 when the school celebrated the 50th anniversary of its move to Naperville. A few years later in 1926, the college’s name was changed once more, this time to “North Central” in order to avoid confusion with some college located in Evanston.

NCC continues to flourish, adding new buildings to the campus and new educational opportunities to the curriculum. For years, the college welcomed the entire community to a Cornerstone Day picnic in May, but the event was replaced with an awards reception in 2019 and then retired entirely. Even though no celebration was planned for 2020 and COVID-19 would have cancelled it anyhow, this year is a particularly special anniversary, so Happy 150th Cornerstone Day Anniversary, North Central College!

*A Time for Remembrance: History of 125 years of First Evangelical United Brethren Church, Naperville, Illinois

New Naperville Area Schools in 1966

With Naperville’s population booming in the 1960’s, it soon became obvious that the current schools would not be sufficient for educating the children of all these new families.

In 1966, the city was educating 6,267 students, but they were already running out of room even though  several new schools and additions to older schools were being built. Voters okayed a $1,049,375 referendum to build Mill Street Elementary School which broke ground in 1966. Mill welcomed its first students in the fall of 1967 even though it wasn’t yet completed.

 

Mill Street School of course is named after Mill Street which in turn was named after Joseph Naper’s mill on the banks of the DuPage River. It was originally a saw mill to build the city Naper envisioned, but it was later a grist mill for grinding flour.

While the school took the Mill Street name, it was dedicated to Edna C. Wunder who was a student in Naperville as well as a teacher and principal. Her 45 year career started in 1896 when she was hired as a Naperville teacher for $35 per month. Later, she was principal at Naper Academy and Ellsworth school before retiring in 1941.

Local higher education also got a boost in 1966 with both College of DuPage and Waubonsee Community College launching that year.

Neither school held classes until 1967, but they were pulling together staff and resources that first year.

The Waubonsee name was chosen from 600 entries in a “name the school” contest. It means “early day” and was the name of a local Pottawatomie chief.

Rodney K. Berg was the first president of COD, overseeing the early years and the establishment of the Glen Ellyn campus. Before then, classes were held in various rented spaces and students had to run all over town to attend class. Which is why the COD mascot is a roadrunner!