Naperville Sun – Page 13

Naperville man dead following motorcycle crash at Naper and Plank

August 14, 2025 at 10:19 a.m.

A Naperville motorcyclist has died after going off the road at Naper Boulevard and Plank Road Wednesday night and striking a fence, Naperville police said.

Naperville Police Arrests for Aug. 3-5

August 13, 2025 at 9:01 a.m.

A 22-year-old man from Naperville was arrested on charges of driving too fast for conditions and driving under the influence of alcohol at 2:54 a.m. Aug. 3 in the 500...

As summer vacation nears an end and back-to-school shopping commences, we take a look back at how students appeared in the mid-1960s. This is the fifth-grade class at Ellsworth School in Naperville, as it was known in 1964 when this photo was taken. Button-down shirts for the boys, tidy dresses for the girls and short hair for everyone, like a scene right out of "Leave It to Beaver." (Naperville Heritage Society)

The Way We Were: Naperville fifth-graders were tidy and well-coiffed in 1964

August 8, 2025 at 10:41 a.m.

It was button-down shirts for the boys, tidy dresses for the girls and short hair for everyone in this 1964 school photo in Naperville.

Naperville Police Arrests for July 31 to Aug. 2

August 6, 2025 at 10:44 a.m.

Roundup of recent arrests made by the Naperville Police Department.

Here's another A.C. Kendig photo, this one taken in the early 1800s of Naperville toddler Arthur Henry Hobert and his toy cat, posed on a piece of furniture. This image is known as a carte-de-visite, a style of small photographs — usually about 4.5-inches-by-2.5-inches — that became popular starting in the 1860s because they could be easily shared and traded among friends and visitors. And, yes, while it appears young Arthur, who was born in 1881, died in 1958 and is buried in Naperville Cemetery, is wearing a skirt, that was the custom of the day. According to one account from the Maryland Center for History and Culture, it was likely more practical from the standpoint of changing diapers. But it also could have represented the child's dependence on its mother until the boy was "breeched" — given his first pair of pants or breeches — when the father was to take over his son's education. Another school of thought is "small boys and girls were dressed alike because they were seen alike. Infants and toddlers were all seen as innocent, meaning sexless or without gender," the center's publication said. (Naperville Heritage Society)

The Way We Were: Trading card photos like this one of a Naperville toddler were once the rage

August 26, 2025 at 6:21 p.m.

Arthur Henry Hobert's toddler image is captured in a photo taken by a Naperville photographer sometime in the early 1880s.

Linnie (Wagner) Stark, aka Mrs. Eli Stark, posed for a photo in about 1900 with her son Byron. They are standing in the yard of the Orcutt home in downtown Naperville, located at the northwest corner of Jefferson Avenue and Webster Street. According to Naper Settlement accounts, Eli Stark was an amateur photographer and man of many trades. In addition to opening a bicycle repair shop, he also delivered newspapers, operated a newsstand and a general store, and bought a confectionary shop that eventually included an ice cream parlor. It was the last venture in which wife Linnie played a role by helping make the ice cream. Byron Stark was born in 1898 and would live for 91 years. (Naperville Heritage Society)

The Way We Were: Capturing a sweet moment in 1900 of Naperville mother and child

August 22, 2025 at 12:39 p.m.

Linnie Stark, aka Mrs. Eli Stark, posed for a photo in about 1900 with her son Byron. They are standing in the yard of the Orcutt home in downtown Naperville,...

Cabinet card photographs, larger-size portrait photos mounted on hard cardboard featuring staged scenes or props, were popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This one taken by prolific Naperville photographer A.C. Kendig is of Ervine and Clarence Brown in the late 19th century, according to Naperville Heritage Society records. The two boys look like they're rowing a small boat but it's nothing more than a staged set into which they were placed. (Naperville Heritage Society)

The Way We Were: Cabinet card photo captures two Naperville boys in the late 19th century

August 1, 2025 at 1:36 p.m.

Ervine and Clarence Brown were just young boys in Naperville in the late 19th century when they had their cabinet card photo taken.

Letters to the Editor: Pretrial Fairness Act doesn’t need fixing based on one case; gratitude for the peaceful ‘Good Trouble Lives On’ event

August 1, 2025 at 2:53 p.m.

Letters to the editor submitted to the Naperville Sun.

If there was ever a doubt that Naperville was a one-horse town at the turn of the last century, this "bird's eye view" should dispell it. The postcard image was taken in 1908 and looks toward the northeast. At the time, the town's population was about 2,630, according to census records. (Naperville Heritage Society)

The Way We Were: Looking down on Naperville back in 1908

July 25, 2025 at 10:39 a.m.

If there was ever a doubt that Naperville was once a one-horse town, this "bird's eye view" postcard from 1908 will dispell it.

Naperville residents receive college/university degrees, named to honor rolls and dean’s lists

July 21, 2025 at 10:20 a.m.

Naperville residents have completed college/university degrees or have been named to their school’s academic achievement lists.

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