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Schools & Churches
Elgin Academy
Elgin High School
Franklin School
1st. Congregationalist Church
St. Mary's Church
St. John Ev. Lutheran Church
Ev. Lutheran Church of Holy Spirit
Methodist Church
 Episcopal Church
Grant School
Buildings
Borden Library
City Hall
Cook Publishing
Brethren Publishing 
Dunham's Castle
Elk's Club
Ill. State Armory 
Home Bank Building
Professional Building
Post Office
Sears Academy
Selz Shoe Factory
Masonic Temple
H. Kind 
Bakery
Hubbard Block
McGraw 
Electric
Woolworth's
Cromwell Shoes
Judge Botsford's Residence
Fire Barn # 1
Fire Barn # 5
Elgin Eagle Beer
Hospitals
Sherman Hospital
Resthaven Sanitarium
St. Joseph's Hospital
Larkin Children's Hospital
Elgin State Hospital Annex
Old People's Home
Streets
Grove Ave.
Grove Ave 
at Nite.
North on Grove
Douglas Ave.
Chicago Street
Villa Street
Highland & Larkin Avenues
Modern Elgin
Grove Ave. (Mod)
Aerial View
Elgin Skyline
Greetings From Elgin
Greetings From Elgin (1975)

 

In 1835, James T. and Hezekiah Gifford, along with Samuel Jewett Kimball, settled a city that they would name "Elgin" in the state of Illinois, 38 miles west of Chicago.  Situated on the Fox River, Elgin is directly between the lead mines of Galena and Chicago.  Gifford, being a devoutly religious man, named his new city after a Scottish psalm.  "I had been a great admirer of that tune from boyhood", he once stated, "and the name Elgin had ever fallen upon my ear with musical effects".  Over the next 165 years, Elgin would be music to the ears of a great many people and industries, including one of the largest watch making factories in the world, the largest producers of dairy products in the Midwest, including the home of The Borden Milk Company, as well as the manufacturing of cars, shoes, bicycles and religious printed material.  Elgin would be the home for many colleges, including Judson College, Elgin Community College and The Elgin Academy, which at one time was affiliated with Northwestern University.

Throughout the years, the triumphs of Elgin would be celebrated through the production of postcards.  The products of such postcard companies as  V. O. Hammon, S. H. Knox, E. C. Kropp and other would serve two purposes: they not only provide inexpensive ways for people to communicate, but  they also provide a historical record to buildings or structures that no longer exist.  

Since this history will be told through the postcards that I own, it will be a decidedly short one.  Any item of interest in Elgin that I don't have a postcard of, will seem to not exist.  However, much is written about the City of Elgin by such learned and scholarly people as E. C. Alft, Hazel Belle Perry, Jim and Wynette Edwards,  and others.  If you enjoy this brief work, I suggest you learn more in their writings.
Elgin's History
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While every effort has been made to maintain historical accuracy, occasionally errors or omissions might occur.  My apologies should you discover any.  However, if you bring them to my attention, I will make ever effort to rectify them in a timely manner.  

 

Home
Fox River
Chgo St Bridge
Chgo Bridge at night
Kimball  Bridge
Walton Island
Pumping Station
Elgin Nat'l 
Watch Co.
West & Front Wing
Noon at Factory
The Main Entrance
National House
Elgin Watchmakers College
Il. Watch 
Case Factory
Eppenstein's Home
Observatory
N. Y. World's Fair
My Elgin's All Right
Parks
Gifford Park
Veteran Monument
Lord's Park
Scenic View
Upper Lake
Band Stand
Audubon Museum
Pavilion At Night
Pavilion in Wintertime
Bear Pit
Trout Park
Trout Park  Amusement Park
Sulfur  Springs
(Wing Park)
Pavilion,
Wing Park
Swimming Pool
Band Concert
(Wing Park)
Weldwood Country Club
Central Park
Bridge over Tyler Creek
Windmill on Aurora Elgin RR
Hotels
Kelley Hotel
Hotel Fosgate
Fox Hotel
Misc.
Dairy Cows
Interurban
 Hiawatha
Pageant
Other Elgins
Elgin, Texas
Elgin, Minnesota
Elgin Oregon
Elgin, Arizona