Naperville Parks - Kendall Park

Naperville boasts an elementary school, a VFW, a street AND a park named for Oliver Julian “Judd” Kendall. As we just honored the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day, this is a perfect time to talk about Kendall Park’s namesake. 

Judd Kendall enlisted in June of 1917 and attended the Army Engineers School. In addition to his natural talents, having a father who who served as mayor of Naperville probably gave him a leg up and he soon became a First Lieutenant and intelligence officer. 

He was part of the First Division, which in May of 1918 was about to launch the first American battle of World War I in Cantigny, France. Checking up on some suspicious activity in no-man’s-land, Kendall was captured, along with maps of the planned invasion.  

Postponing the invasion was seriously considered because the German forces might now have the information needed to prepare, but the troops got the go-ahead three days later and had every advantage of surprise. Kendall had given nothing away. 

Months later, Kendall’s body was found buried behind enemy lines. He was missing teeth and his throat appeared to be cut. Kendall was 28 years old. 

World War I ended when the armistice took effect on November 11, 1918, on the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” Armistice Day was a resolution by Congress in 1926 and became a national holiday in 1938. President Eisenhower changed the name to Veteran’s Day in 1954 to honor all veterans, living or dead. 

The Battle of Cantigny so affected Colonel Robert R. McCormick that he named his family’s summer home “Cantigny.” McCormick also served in the First Division and a museum honoring “The Big Red One” has been built on McCormick’s property.

Naperville’s VFW post was chartered in 1944 and almost immediately chose Kendall as their namesake. In 1997, the post started the process to honor Kendall for his valor. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, Purple Heart and WWI victory medal.

Kendall Park is bordered by Washington Street, 5th Avenue and the railroad tracks. It’s a lovely swath of green with a children’s playground. Just the sort of hometown scene soldiers go to war to protect.

Naperville Parks - Kroehler Park

Kroehler Park is tucked away between Wright and Sleight Streets on 5th Avenue. The park butts up against some of the properties that are part of the 5th Avenue Development currently under consideration. Also, appropriately enough, it’s just a stone’s throw away from 5th Avenue Station which was once known as the Kroehler Manufacturing Company.

The Kroehler Company was once one of the largest manufacturers of upholstered furniture in the world, employing a large percentage of Naperville’s citizens. 

Peter E. Kroehler was born in 1872 and grew up in Minnesota. His immigrant parents encouraged education and hard work and Peter made the most of that advice. 

He attended North Central College here in town when it was still known as North-Western and was a student of professor James Nichols, the library’s namesake. Nichols was also a founding partner of the Naperville Lounge Factory and they hired young Kroehler as a clerk. 

By 1896, Kroehler was one of the partners and by 1903, he was president of the company, buying out the two remaining partners. (Nichols died in 1895.) Within the next few years, Kroehler also started his own furniture manufacturing firm in Kankakee. 

By1915, he had merged the companies, along with several others he acquired, under the Kroehler Manufacturing name. While the company was dissolved in 1981, you can still purchase new furniture today with the Kroehler name. 

Not only was Kroehler a successful business man and the main employer in town, he also served two terms as Naperville’s mayor. 

The 5th Avenue Station building is actually the second furniture factory. The first was destroyed by a tornado in 1913 so Kroehler built a new one. 

In 1946, a devastating train crash occurred on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad close to the Kroehler building, killing 45 people and injuring another 125. Kroehler employees were first on the scene and their warehouse was used as an emergency medical station. 

Kroehler park is a charming neighborhood park with play equipment for youngsters in the area. While small, Kroehler Park can claim an impressive amount of Naperville history behind its name. 

Naperville Parks - Miledje Square

Miledje Square is a pleasant little park in the Miledje Square subdivision. The 80-home community is east of Naperville North High School just off of Mill Street.

The neighborhood has an “official website” at www.miledjesquare.com, but it looks like it hasn’t been updated for a while.

Under their “About” page on the website, it says:

“Mr Miledje (pronounced Mill-Ledge) owned the property prior to Naperville being incorporated back in the late 1800s. His farm 
was called "Miledje Farm" which went from Ogden to 6th, and Mill St to Eagle.”

There doesn’t seem to be any mention of “Mr. Miledje” on either the 1869 or 1874 Naperville maps. Naperville was incorporated more than once:  as a village in 1857 and then as a city in 1890. If “the late 1800s” is a clue, that probably means when Naperville was incorporated as a city.

A search of Illinois data bases on marriages, deaths and land records didn’t turn anything up either. There  are however various spellings that might be of same name. For instance: Mlodje, Miledjie and Milledje. Unfortunately, even those names were listed as living in DuPage County but in Cook County.

It would be interesting to know more about “Mr. Miledje,” but that would take a little more investigative work! If anyone else has more information, please share so we can learn more about this little park.

Naperville Parks -- Springbrook Prairie

Springbrook Prairie sprawls between 75th and 87th Streets, enclosing both Book and Naperville-Plainfield Roads. It’s no surprise to learn that Spring Brook runs through the prairie. The vast green space includes Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve with Springbrook Golf Course in the southwest corner.

The land on which the golf course sits was once owned by the Fraley family. Frank and Jenny Fraley were founding members of the Rural Progress Club in 1917 and raised five children on their Wheatland Township farm. It was the the first piece of property owned by the then-fledgling Park District, purchased in 1967 thanks to a matching grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Anticipating the housing boom of the 1970s, the land was intended to preserve green space among new building and help control run-off and flooding. A campground was planned with a beach for swimming on a 200 acre lake shaped like a dragon. The dragon remains in the bronze map of Naperville which is embedded in the sidewalk on Jackson Avenue.

Dragon Lake never materialized, however. A “stream re-meandering” project instead created wide curves to slow water flow during heavy rains and fight erosion.

“Re-meandering” helped improve the habitat for wildlife that lives in and near the water. In fact, the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission designated the area in1993 as the Springbrook Prairie Nature Preserve and Springbrook Marsh Land and Water Reserve.

In addition to all the nature found in Springbrook Prairie, seven miles of pathways are open to joggers, bicyclists, cross-country skiers and even horseback riders. An off-leash area for dogs with valid Forest Preserve District permits is accessible from 83rd Street and there is also a model aircraft field accessible from Plainfield-Naperville Road.

Naperville Parks - Central Park

When the Napers arrived in 1831, the land was part of Cook County. In 1839, Joseph Naper was instrumental in establishing the county of DuPage with the county seat located here in Naperville. Land was set aside and $5000 raised to build a courthouse with jail cells. Outbuildings were later built for additional offices.

Over the next couple of decades, however, Wheaton’s importance grew while Naperville’s waned. Moving the county seat became a highly contentious issue that was resolved - if not amicably, at least without bloodshed - in 1868.

The courthouse was dismantled and sold as salvage. The outbuildings were taken over by the Fire Department to house their engines. And the rest of the courthouse square was improved to become a well-regarded public park.

Walkways, benches and landscaping were added. Monuments were erected such as a Civil War cannon, both Naperville and DuPage County Centennial markers and both the Soldiers and Sailors and Veterans’ Valor monuments.

Dedication for a new sculpture, a young, laughing Abraham Lincoln, is planned for September as part of Illinois’ Bicentennial.

The Fire Department moved out in 1888 which allowed for even more amenities. In the 1970s, some land was turned into parking spaces and landscaping berms were created. A shady children’s playground on one end is one of the more popular features.

The first band stand was erected in 1889 and has been reimagined several times since. The current concert and rehearsal facility was dedicated in 2003. Free concerts are held every Thursday during the summer.

Bring your family (and a picnic!) to enjoy some old-fashioned fun in lovely Central Park any Thursday during the summer and party like it's 1899.