History Treasure Hunt

A Self-guided Tour Through 150 Centuries Along the Illinois Prairie Path

In 1989 DuPage County celebrates its Sesquicentennial, 150 years of political and cultural history. The Illinois Prairie Path and the former railroad on which the Path is built, the old Chicago, Aurora and Elgin (CA&E) electric commuter line, have both played important parts in that history. DuPage County, in turn, is making vital contributions to trail development today. This self-guided History Treasure Hunt along the Illinois Prairie Path is, therefore, a birthday salute and thank-you from our members and friends to DuPage County as it celebrates "150 years in the spotlight."

Yet the land now called DuPage County has a geological and biological history too; and traces of that history going back thousands of years can still be seen today, on or near the Illinois Prairie Path as it wends its way across the county. Because we sometimes forget that others lived here long before us, our History Treasure Hunt suggests the history of the land and its inhabitants beginning 150 centuries ago. The work sheet lists in chronological order important points of interest and is designed to stimulate appreciation of a fascinating county and a wonderful trail.

WORK SHEET FOR THE HISTORY TREASURE HUNT ALONG THE ILLINOIS PRAIRIE PATH IN DUPAGE COUNTY

(Sites listed in chronological order; asterisks (*) equal points; less accessible sites have extra points.)

1. * Valparaiso Moraine, Glen Ellyn
   About 15,000 years ago the most recent period of glaciation ended as the Wisconsin Glacier slowly melted in northern Illinois. The ice sheet left behind deposits of clay, sand, gravel and large rounded boulders -- glacial till -- in the Valparaiso Moraine covering most of what is now DuPage County. (West of Hill Avenue in Glen Ellyn the IPP cuts through a ridge of glacial till, part of the Valparaiso Moraine.)

2. * Perry Mastodon, Wheaton College
   About 11,000 years ago a six-ton elephant-like mammal called a mastodon died in a deep pool along the river in what is now Glen Ellyn. Although mastodons became extinct about 8,000 years ago, the well preserved bones of this huge animal were discovered in 1963; and the reconstructed mastodon is now on display at Wheaton College. (North from IPP on Chase three blocks; west on Franklin to west side of Wheaton College Quad; north to Edwin F. Deicke Exhibit Hall in Armerding Hall, the science building.) Located at the south end of the Quad is Blanchard Hall, the oldest building on campus; and south of that at the bottom of the hill, the imposing Billy Graham Center. Wheaton College was founded in 1853 as the Illinois Institute and Jonathan Blanchard was the first president of the college. The Billy Graham Center is named for the noted evangelist, a Wheaton College alumnus.

3. *** West Chicago Prairie Forest Preserve
   After the glacier melted, vegetation reappeared and sun-loving prairie plants sent their roots deep into the glacial deposits, eventually creating some of the richest soils in the world, most of which were later converted to farmland by nineteenth century settlers. Today the best and largest natural prairie remaining in DuPage County adjoins the IPP in West Chicago along the Illinois Prairie Path Geneva Spur. (South from Elgin Branch on Prince Crossing to Hawthorne Road; west 2 1/2 miles to Industrial Drive; south 1/2 mile to IPP Geneva Spur;east 600 ft. on IPP to checkpoint.) Note that the Indiana maintained the prairies by burning them; fire is still an important management tool today to prevent growth of woody plants that would shade the prairie and eventually destroy it.

4. ** Buffalo Herd, Fermilab
   Buffalo roamed the prairies and were hunted by the Indians before the coming of the white man. A herd of modern day buffalo may be seen at Fermilab. (Batavia Spur to Kirk Road; north along west side of Kirk Road 0.8 mile to Pine Street, the entrance to Fermilab; take bike route for a total of 2 miles, past main building, Wilson Hall, and straight ahead on D Street to fenced farm field where the buffalo herd is kept.)

5. *** Indian Burial Mounds, Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve
   The earliest Americans migrated from Asia to North America during the glacial period when a large quantity of sea water was taken up in ice and there was a land bridge across the Bering Strait. Indian artifacts, such as stone arrowheads and axes, discovered in DuPage County, date from as long ago as 10,000 years B.C. Woodland Indians of the Illinois River Valley civilization built the mounds near the West Branch of the DuPage River between 300 B.C. and 700 A.D., remnants of which can still be seen south of the IPP Geneva Spur near the west bank of the river. (West on Geneva Road across bridge to Winfield Mounds Forest Preserve gate which will be open by special permission for the hunt; south through gate on dirt path 500 yards to Geneva Spur; continue south 400 yards to site.)

6. * DuPage River, seen from the bridge at Warrenville
   Before 1800 a French trapper named DuPage built a small trading post four miles south of present-day Naperville at the confluence of the east and west branches of the river that was later named for him. DuPage undoubtedly trapped beaver, very common in the area at that time, because their pelts, were especially valuable to the French traders. DuPage County took its name from the name of the river. Note that Mt. Hoy, the second highest point in DuPage County, can be viewed from the bridge. It is located in Blackwell Forest Preserve and is a former sanitary landfill, now used as a recreational hill. The scenic bridge was built in 1976 by The Illinois Prairie Path, a not-for-profit corporation, and was donated to DuPage County for the benefit of all citizens of the county.

7. ** Beaver Pond, Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve
   Although once almost eliminated by hunters and trappers, beaver have again become common in northeastern Illinois, especially in forest preserves and conservation areas. A good example of an old beaver pond is found next to the Path at Pratt's Wayne Woods Forest Preserve one mile northwest of Powis Road and the IPP in Wayne. This large marshy lake is one of the most beautiful and interesting natural areas along the IPP. Many kinds of birds are seen here, including herons, egrets, geese, ducks, sandpipers and rails. Both the yellowheaded blackbird and the black tern, very rare in Illinois, nest here. When the beaver abandoned the pond a few years ago, district personnel built a weir at the bridge on the Path to preserve the wetland. (There is a new beaver dam with a small pond next to the trail about 1000 feet northwest of the intersection of County Farm Road and Geneva Road, Winfield.)

8. ** Site of Julius M. Warren's saw mill, Warrenville Grove Preserve
   At the end of the Black Hawk War in 1832, the Indians were relocated to the west and the area was safe for settlement. Among the earliest settlers was Julius Warren, who operated a saw mill beside the West Branch of the DuPage River from 1835 to 1857. The mill race still exists. (South from IPP bridge on a dirt path along west side of river 0.4 mile to historical site in Warrenville Grove Forest Preserve.)

9. *** Kline Creek Farm. Timber Ridge Forest Preserve
   Caspar Kline first broke ground in 1835 in Winfield Township. Now the Kline homestead is in the possession of the DuPage County Forest Preserve District, which operates it as a typical nineteenth-century farm. (Entrance from IPP is a rough dirt path into Timber Ridge Forest Preserve about 700 yards northwest of Kline Creek bridge opposite rustic wood bench; 1/2 mile northerly to checkpoint at front door of homestead.)

10. * Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (Chicago and North Western Railroad) at Volunteer Bridge, Wheaton
    The first railroad in DuPage County was the Galena and Chicago Union (now the Chicago and North Western), which began operations in 1848. The present-day North Western runs adjacent to the Illinois Prairie Path in Glen Ellyn and Wheaton. The best view of the tracks is from the IPP's historic Volunteer Bridge, built in 1906 to carry another railroad, the Chicago, Aurora and Elgin electric commuter line, over the North Western. Partially dismantled about 1961, when the CA&E was abandoned, the bridge was restored by Illinois Prairie Path volunteers in 1983. (Volunteer Park, Wheaton.)

11. * Maple Street Chapel of the First Church of Lombard
    Built in 1870, the Maple Street Chapel is on the National Register of Historic Places. A charming example of Gothic Revival architecture, this white-painted wooden church is located near the Lombard Historical Museum, the Plum Library and beautiful Lilacia Park. (One and a half blocks north of the IPP at the southwest corner of Main and Maple.)

12. * DuPage County Courthouse
    The DuPage County Courthouse, on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in 1896. It replaced an earlier courthouse built about 1867 after the county seat was changed from Naperville to Wheaton. The architectural style of the stately red brick and granite structure is Richardsonian Romanesque. (Adjacent to the IPP at Reber St., Wheaton.)

13. * Commonwealth Edison substation, Elmhurst
    The substation was built in 1927 by the Public Service Company of Northern Illinois, predecessor of Commonwealth Edison Company. This quaint Spanish-style building with its wrought iron grillwork and colorful tile was one of a series of substations which supplied power for the CA&E's famous "Third Rail". Com Ed has an easement in perpetuity on the entire right-of-way utilized by the Illinois Prairie Path. Dubious at first about a recreational trail near its power lines, Com Ed is now a strong supporter of trails on utility rights-of-way. (Adjacent to the trail 750 feet east of York in Elmhurst.) Note also the restored Chicago and Great Western Railroad station, north of the Path in Wild Meadows Trace Park, maintained by the Elmhurst Park District.

14. * Villa Park Historical Museum and Illinois Prairie Path Visitor Center
    This is the restored CA&E Villa Avenue station, built in 1928 and on the National Register of Historic Places. Nearby is the Ovaltine Factory, now closed, which began operations in 1917 and whose chocolatey product, Ovaltine, was made famous by radio's Little Orphan Annie. Several blocks west is the Ardmore Avenue CA&E station, built in 1910 in the Prairie School architectural style developed by Frank Lloyd Wright; also on the National Register. An exhibit in the Visitor Center gives a pictorial history of the Illinois Prairie Path, beginning with the letter to the editor of the Chicago Tribune written by Path Founder May Theilgaard Watts in 1963. Mrs. Watts is given credit for starting the rails-to-trails movement in the United States.

15. * Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
    Opened in 1973 and symbolizing DuPage County's bright future, Fermilab houses one of the largest high-energy particle accelerators in the world, where scientists explore the basic structure of matter. Especially noteworthy for visitors are the huge pendulum in the atrium of Wilson Hall and, of course, the accelerator ring enclosing a prairie restoration. Past and future mingle on the fifteenth floor where exhibits of Indian hunting implements thousands of years old adjoin models of a powerful state-of-the-art research tool. The views of west central DuPage County from the large picture windows are outstanding.