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Compiled from articles published in the Ledger-Sentinel, Fox Valley Sentinel, Oswego Ledger, and Kendall County Record.
May 1998
More than 700 Kendall County area residents attended an open house at the county’s new courthouse building in Yorkville.
Preliminary results of a special census placed Montgomery’s population at 5,180, a six percent increase over the 4,854 residents counted in a 1993 special census, according to John DuRocher, village administrator.
To honor retiring Oswego High School principal Daryl Thompson, village of Oswego officials announced they would name Route 71 in front of the high school “Daryl Thompson Way.” Village President Budd Bieber said honorary street signs would soon be installed along the highway near the school.
May 1993
Oswego School District officials announced they expected to gain another 135 student for the 1993-1994 school year. (The district’s enrollment as of May 1993 was 4,250.)
Oswego Police Capt. James Bennett was honored as Kendall County Officer of the Year for his work in successfully talking a troubled teen out of jumping off the railing of the U.S. Route 34 bridge in the village.
May 1988
Oswego Police Chief Robert Wunsch told the village plan commission he had a “major concern” over the traffic access drives proposed for a Jewel-Osco anchored shopping center at the southeast corner Route 30 and Douglas Road in the village. Wunsch told commission he objected to the main entrance drive’s location so close to Route 30. Also, Wunsch said he believed a traffic signal would need to be installed at the entrance drive.
For the first time in years, Oswego-Montgomery area residents were faced with the prospect of not having a community celebration in June. The annual “Oswego Days” celebration had been cancelled due to a lack of a sponsoring organization, the Ledger-Sentinel reported.
May 1983
Village of Montgomery officials and representatives of Spatz & Company of Chicago presided over ground-breaking ceremonies for the Settlers Landing shopping center at the northeast corner of Route 30 and Douglas Road in the village. Dominick’s, Walgreens, and Kmart were the announced anchor stores for the center. At the time of the ground-breaking, the only businesses along Douglas Road between Montgomery and Fernwood Road were a Burger King and a McDonald’s.
Only 14 Boulder Hill residents went to the polls at the Oswegoland Civic Center to elect neighborhood representatives to the governing board of the Boulder Hill Civic Association.
Anxious to attract new industrial firms and jobs to Oswego, the village board voted to join the new Kendall County Economic Development Commission.
May 1978
Among the advertisers in the May 25 edition of the Oswego Ledger were Grimm’s Pharmacy at the Boulder Hill Market, Bohn’s Food Store and the Paper Crate office supply store on Main Street in downtown Oswego, and Olson’s Shell at Route 25 and Route 34.
May 1973
Parking problems on Main Street in downtown Oswego were another issue for the village board. To free up parking spaces for businesses, the board agreed to send letters to tenants and landlords of downtown apartments asking tenants to park off the street during business hours.
Montgomery Village President Wayne Wells presented a valor award to former village resident Lawrence Hawkinson who jumped into the Fox River to save the life of a woman two months earlier.
The Montgomery Village Board was continuing to study the flooding problems in the village’s Park View Estates Subdivision.
May 1968
Owners of the Oswego Dragway spent $20,000 to resurface the asphalt surface at the track just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The resurfacing made the track “the most modern as well as the safest” in the country,” according to a report in the Ledger.
Property tax bills for many Oswego area residents increased between 18 and 21 percent, the Ledger reported in a front page story May 16. “This means that a $400 tax bill last year will be $512 this year,” according to the report.
The Waubonsee Community College Board of Trustees approved the master plan for the development of the college’s new Sugar Grove campus.
May 1963
Several children were bitten by a stray dog in the Boulder Hill subdivision May 4, the Ledger reported. One of the victims, a 12 year-old boy, was taken to an area hospital for treatment. The Kendall County dog catcher later picked up the dog.
During the monthly meeting of the Boulder Hill Civic Association, president John Taylor updated association members on efforts to secure the development of a supermarket in the subdivision. Taylor said Don L. Dise, subdivision developer, had advised him May 7 that if a leading food chain would not agree to construct a store by the fall, he would proceed with plans to construct a convenience store with approximately 1,000 square feet of retail floor space.
May 1958
The Montgomery Village Board voted unanimously to amend an agreement that requires the village’s to provide water service to the unincorporated Boulder Hill Subdivision. The board had approved the initial agreement with Don L. Dise, Boulder Hill developer, in October 1957.
May 1918
“Gus Voss is building a barber shop at the corner of Main and Washington (in Oswego),” the Record reported from Oswego on May 15, 1918. “John Herren will build a real estate office next to Voss’s barber shop.”
May 1913
On May 21 1913, the Record reported from Oswego that “Excavating for the new Presbyterian church [at Madison and Benton streets] is well under way. Lou Young and his men are doing the work.”
May 1893
“The saloons are shut up,” the Record reported from Oswego on May 3, 1893. “The town is dry.” But on May 31, the Record added: “The dry spell in Oswego came to an end Friday when the truly legal village board met just long enough to grant licenses to two saloons.”
An Oswego pioneer’s death was reported on May 3, 1893: “A.J. Wormley was born at East Painted Post, Stubben County, N.Y. With his parents he arrived in Oswego on the morning of July 4, 1838, taking possession of the farm the following spring where he has continuously resided until his death this week.”
May 1873
“The Shoger house on the [northwest] corner of Adams and Jackson is nearing completion,” the Record’s Oswego correspondent reported on May 15, 1873. The house, restored several years ago by Dennis and Linda Moreland, is still standing.