Community Corner
Historical Society Publishes Pictorial History of Romeoville
Photo history of Romeoville will be released in August; you can pre-order your copy now.
After putting out the call for photos of the village's past, the Romeoville Area Historical Society has completed a photographic history of the Village of Romeoville.
Simply titled Romeoville, the book is part of Arcadia Press' "Images of America" series, and illustrates the history of the Romeoville area from the Native Americans who settled here to the building of the I&M Canal to the present. The book details how the towns of Romeo, Juliet, Lockport and others were built to house canal workers and their families.
The book tells the story of Romeo, eventually renamed Romeoville, along with prominent businesses and families and the history of Hampton Park, built on farmland west of the canal in the late 1950s. The community helped Romeoville grow from a few families to more than 3,000 people within four years — and it's been growing ever since. Valley View School District is depicted starting with the days of one-room schools to the innovative year-round school schedule to the district as it is today.
Romeoville will be published in August. The Romeoville Area Historical Society is accepting pre-orders at the pre-publication price of $19; historical society members will receive an additional discount.
To place an order, visit the historical society, located in the Georgia Wilson Community Service Building at 10 Montrose Dr. (also known as the former home of the Romeoville Police Department). Order forms are also available at Romeoville village hall, 1050 W. Romeo Rd.; the Romeoville Chamber of Commerce; also located in the community service building on Montrose; or the Romeoville branch of the White Oak Library, 201 W. Normantown Rd.
Order forms and additional information are available by calling the historical society at 815-886-0273 or emailing Nancy Hackett at nancy.reader@sbcglobal.net.
You can also pre-order the book at Amazon.com.
Release party
Copies of Romeoville will be for sale at a book release party set for 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at the White Oak library on Normantown Road.
After the book is released, copies will be available at the Romeoville Area Historical Society Museum. Books will be mailed for a shipping and handling fee of $3. The pre-publication price of $19 per book expires Aug. 31.
More Romeoville history
Previous books on Romeoville's history have been published locally by historical society members; they are on sale at the museum for $15 each. Romeoville by Mabel Hrpcha describes life in old Romeo and on the Isle a la Cache prior to 1950. Dorothy Hassert wrote From One-Room Schools to Valley View 365U about the schools in DuPage Township from the 1860s to date, including the creation of the 45/15 school year.
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