Thursday, November 1, 2012
Part two in the series on the Plainfield pilot and the village's ties to the beginnings of the U.S. Post Office's air mail service.
The Inquiry Is it true that the establishment of the United States Post Office’s air mail service is tied to Plainfield, Illinois? The Facts Intrigued by the delivery speed that was possible with mail transported by “aeroplane,” the United States Post Office Department, authorized its first experimental mail flight in 1911 at an aviation festival on Long Island in New York. During the next two years, the department authorized 52 experimental flights at fairs, carnivals and air meets in more than 25 states. The experimental flights convinced the department that the airplane could carry a payload of mail. Advocating the efficiency and speed of air mail service, the Post Office Department repeatedly urged Congress to appropriate funding of …
Friday, October 19, 2012
The truth about Plainfield's ties to the beginnings of air mail service.
The Inquiry Is it true that the establishment of the United States Post office’s air mail service is tied to Plainfield, Illinois? The Facts The Plainfield community has been associated with American aviation since the early days of the 20th Century. Many stories circulate about famed aviator Charles Lindbergh’s reported visits to Plainfield when he served as an early air mail pilot. However, pioneering pilot Eddie Gardner, a Plainfield-area resident until 1918, is Plainfield’s most famous connection to American aeronautical history. Born on a farm northeast of the village of Plainfield in 1888, Eddie Gardner was the third generation of the Gardner family to live here. The Gardner Family at Plainfield The Gardner family was one of the …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The late-Victorian home had several uses, including a dress shop.
The Inquiry A Plainfield Patch reader, Sally, asked about the history of the Chittenden- Owens House that stands along Joliet Road. As a former Plainfield resident now living in California, Sally said that she always wondered about the large, late Victorian-era house that once served as a doctor’s home and office before being converted to an interior design and antiques shop and, later, a women’s dress shop. The Facts The imposing late Victorian-era home stands on a large tract of land comprising several village lots. The site is part of O. J. Corbin’s Addition to the Original Town of Plainfield, platted in 1856. However, the property—today—is only a small portion of the original estate. The stately residence was erected by a prominent …
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The process of selling land claims was confusing, competitive and made complicated by Indian treaties, military land grants and squatters.
Purchasing land here in the 1820s did not involve an appointment with a local real estate agent or lengthy negotiations between the buyer and seller. When Illinois achieved statehood in 1818, most of the land north of present-day Springfield was still owned by the federal government. At the dawn of the 19th century, the southern areas of the new state were most populated. Much of the territory within the newly established state boundaries was sparsely occupied except by long-established Indian tribes. The Inquiry How did the first pioneers acquire their land? The Facts Early land acquisition was a fast-paced and, at times, confusing process during the mid-1820s and early 1830s. Complicated by Indian treaties and military land grants to …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
It may not look like it now, but the road was lined with commercial and industrial enterprises in the mid-1800s, including a foundry, blacksmiths and cabinetmakers.
The Inquiry It seems like an odd name for a residential street, so what is the origin of Commercial Street? The Facts Commercial Street was not included in the original town of Plainfield when Chester Ingersoll laid out the village in 1834. In fact, despite being the location of the earliest homes in the original town, the roadway did not exist until after 1846. Ingersoll laid out 13 blocks in his original village that stretched from present-day Route 59 on the east to the DuPage River on the west and from present-day Lockport Street on the north and Ottawa Street on the south. Ingersoll left us a geographical primer of northeastern Illinois when he named the streets of his new town. In 1833, pioneer settlements were sparsely …
41.60545
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W Commercial St & S James St, Plainfield, IL
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Wednesday, November 2, 2011
While it makes a good story, there's no truth to the tales about Thomas Westendorf writing "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen" in our town.
The Inquiry Was the famed Irish ballad I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen written in Plainfield, Ill.? The Facts Thomas Edison, the American inventor, once wrote the composer, commending the song. Reportedly, the ballad was broadcast during Edison’s funeral. Henry Ford, the automotive entrepreneur, went to great effort to obtain a copy for his Ford Museum. Of the many 20th century arrangements of the ballad, one was featured in the radio program Orphans of Divorce, and two were used in motion pictures: Mrs. Parkington and Magic Town. Slim Whitman recorded a version in 1957. Elvis Presley recorded another in 1973. Bing Crosby, Mitch Miller and Johnny Cash all recorded versions of the ballad as well. Eight years ago, when this question …
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Our new column, penned by local historian Michael Lambert, starts next week, and we want you to ask the history questions he'll answer.
Looking at the blocks of strip malls, huge schools and sprawling subdivisions, it's hard to believe Plainfield was once just a one-horse town -- and not so long ago. As recently as 1991, just 4,700 people called the village home, and it's a safe bet most of them didn't live in 4-bedroom homes or commute to Chicago to work. So it's not a huge surprise that many of the 40,000 who have since put down roots here have no idea what a richly historic village this is. Yes, most know about Electric Park and that two of the most famous pre-interstate country-country roads -- Route 66 and Lincoln Highway -- intersected at what's now U.S. 30 and Route 59, but there is so much more to the Plainfield story than that. How can you look at the DuPage …
Michael Lambert
4:09 pm on Saturday, November 3, 2012
Yes, the U.S. Postal Museum has much of this same information as do many other sources from Wikipedia and numerous archives to major newspapers and local newpapers of the period from 1918 to 1920. The U.S. Postal Museum has much more extensive details about some aspects of the inception of air mail delivery and Eddie Gardner but, unfortunately, also perpetuates a few myths and some erroneous … more ›