Des Plaines Then and Today

One hundred and seventy-five years ago, the area we now know as Des Plaines was occupied by Midwestern Native Americans like the Ottowa and Potowatami who were drawn to the area by it's access to the winding river that would later become the city's namesake. The first white settlers surveyed the area after the founding of Chicago in 1833 and, in addition to the flowing fresh water, saw an area rich in fertile land and still accessible from the nearby developing metropolis.  In the relatively short time from then to now the population has grown to 59,000 people, schools and churches have been erected, businesses have opened and closed and the little river community has become a full-blown city.

Thanks to the Des Plaines History Center, not all of the city's history is lost to us.  In fact, their archives date back to the late 1800s.  We have gathered a handful of these photos and each week will be sharing three along with recent photos we've taken for comparison.  This week's photo set are three pictures from Miner St., which, like our river once did, serves as the communitiy's central vein.