Living History
Preservation keeps history alive. Please explore some historic buildings fulfilling their original purpose or through adaptive reuse. The address link goes to the location on google maps.
48 E Jefferson Ave: Dr. Truitt practiced medicine for over 50 years and helped establish the city hospital. His Prairie School home was built in 1916.
109 N Washington St: Willard Scott, Jr. operated Scott's General Store and the Naperville Hotel. His 1867 home is now home to professional offices.
221 W Jefferson Ave: This c. 1870 Italianate home was home to Philip A. Strubler, a successful businessman and DuPage County sheriff.
750 Aurora Ave: This home is now the Pennywise Resale Shoppe.
126 N Wright St: Circa. 1917, this craftsman home was built for P. E. Kroehler, the head of Kroehler Manufacturing Company and two-time mayor. In the 1950s it became part of North Central College and later part or Little Friends campus. With its sale in 2020, it will be redeveloped as a 2-unit town home.
10 N Brainard St: In 1908 this Georgian Revival structure was buit as a Carnegie Libary to serve as North Central College's library. It is now their technology building.
110 S Washington St: The 1897 Richardsonian Romanasque old Nichols Library was donated to the city by James L Nichols and designed by Mifflin E. Bell. It was landmarked in 2017.
14 S Washington St: The Gothic Revival German Evangelical Church was built in 1899 and is now the Naperville Woman's Club.
5 S Washington St: The Naperville Post Office, built 1939-40, is now the home to Naperville Bank & Trust.
216-218 S Main St: Joseph Naper, the town's founder, built and ran his General Store starting in 1847.
1155 S Washington St: Modaff House is a lovely limestone home that is now the McQuillan Law offices.
443 Aurora Ave: The Bud Goetsch home, c. 1960, is a Midcentury Modern home designed by architect John S. Van Bergen. It is now the Millennium Carillon Visitor Center.
237 W Jefferson Ave: Better known as the 'Middleton House', the Charles E Heydon home, a 1908 Queen Anne style home, is now C'zar Salon Spa.
1025 Aurora Ave: The James Gregson Wright Home was built in 1847, but is better known as "Wil-o-way Manor" after it was purchased by the Polivka family in the 1940s. In 1990 it was renovated into the tapas restaurant, Meson Sabika.
630 N Washington St: Another example of adaptive reuse is the Liposuction and Cosmetic Surgery.
329 E School St: Kiekhofer Hall was buil in1913 in the Collegiate Gothic Revival style. Part of North Central College, this hall was renovated in 2006 and seats 150.
43 E Jefferson: This 1845 Greek Revival home was built for Judd Kendall. Known as the Jefferson Hill shops, it now now houses Quiqley's Irish Pub and Green Basil Vietnamese restaurant.
320 E Chicago Ave: J. L. Nichols House, c. 1890, was the home of J. L. Nichols who donated funds for Naperville's first public library.
245 S Washington St: Charlie Burgess’ Standard Oil Gas Station became Bev Frier's Music Store and went on to become various restaurants.It is now as Jimmy's Grill.
25W463 Hobson Rd: This one room school house built in 1928 is now a cooperative nursery school.
105 N Ellsworth St: This 1870 Italianate home was built for hardware merchant William Hillegas and later purchased by North Central College Professor Harold E. White.
19 N Washington St: Once a Gas Station, it is now the lovely Fiamme restaurant.
301 N Washington St: Built in 1962 for Moser Lumber, it reopened in 2001 as the DuPage Children's Museum.
10S404 Knoch Knolls Rd: Clow Farmhouse, c. 1844, was slated for demolition, but was deconstructed, moved, and rebuilt on the Conservation Foundation's McDonald Farm.
29 N Loomis St: Minus the smoke stake, the1907 boiler house was renovated into a coffee shop on the North Central College Campus.
18 W Jefferson Ave: This 1891 Richardsonian Romanesque was 1st the First National Bank and later became the first Naperville City Hall. Now it is the La Sorella Di Francesca restaurant.
610 S Main St: This home built in 1925 is as cute as a button.
415 E Benton Ave: In 1880 this building started out as a ticket booth for boat rentals at Burlington Park. In 1927 it was moved, enlarged, and turned into a house.
200 E 5th Ave: The former Kroehler Manufacturing building was built in 1913, renovated in 1988.It is home to businesses and apartments.
31 W Jefferson Ave: Lou Malnati's started life as a Fire Station!
34 S Washington St: In 1909 Naperville residents raised more than $26,000 in 15 days for the construction of the Kroehler YMCA. The cornerstone was set on Memorial Day 1910, and the YMCA opened to the public 10 months later.
1002 N Washington St: Sometimes iconic architecture can be found hiding in plain sight - wearing a bright shiny red and blue paint job, like this Dairy Queen on Washington!
320 E School St: Oesterle Library was built in 1954 and designed by Gustave Orth of the Chicago firm Fugard, Burt, Wilkinson, and Orth.
23W171 Hobson Rd: This clapboard farmhouse, Oak Cottage, was built by the Greene Family. Rooms were added as needs determined. The timber frame barn is the largest in DuPage.
1212 S Washington St: Pioneer Park contains a bridge with original limestone abutments, a shelter built by the CCC, and the Hobson Grist Millstone Monument.
Book Rd south of Hassert Blvd: Riverview Farmstead contains a limestone farmhouse and timber frame barn built by the Clow Family.