Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Property Records
214 S. Main St., Sugar Grove, IL Cooper / Needham / Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop, Built by Geo. Wolf; late 1800s, Advertisement reads: "C.J. Knudson, Practical Horse-Shoeing, General Repair Work in Wood and Iron." The building at 214 South Main Street was known as Cooper’s Hall. It included the Cooper & Needham Blacksmithing Shop (also known as the Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop) downstairs. Upstairs, school and town activities took place on the 2nd floor, which included a basketball court, dining room, and stage. The court was so narrow that the folks on the one bench on each side had to stand up on the bench to keep their feet off the playing floor. The building then housed a Machine Shop downstairs and the residence of the Groff Frantz Family upstairs. Source: 'Sin-Qua-Sip": A History of Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Illinois' by Patsy Mighell Paxton
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Estate of Leaunder Cooper, Deceased
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - For Sale
214 S. Main St., Sugar Grove, IL Cooper / Needham / Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop, Built by Geo. Wolf; late 1800s, The building at 214 South Main Street was known as Cooper’s Hall. It included the Cooper & Needham Blacksmithing Shop (also known as the Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop) downstairs. Upstairs, school and town activities took place on the 2nd floor, which included a basketball court, dining room, and stage. The court was so narrow that the folks on the one bench on each side had to stand up on the bench to keep their feet off the playing floor. The building then housed a Machine Shop downstairs and the residence of the Groff Frantz Family upstairs. Source: 'Sin-Qua-Sip": A History of Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Illinois' by Patsy Mighell Paxton
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Historical Account
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Addition (Chapter 5)
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Addition (Chapter 4)
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Addition (Chapter 3)
Cooper's Hall, Knudson Hall and Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St. - Addition (Chapter 2)
Cooper-Needham Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main Street - Addition (Chapter 1)
Cooper-Needham Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main Street, Machine Shop
Cooper-Needham Blacksmith Shop: 214 Main St.
Frank W. Needham, Barber: Advertisement in The Ember 1921
Cropped from "The Ember 1921", Yearbook of Sugar Grove Township High School. Available under the "School Yearbooks" Collection.
Keck's Store: Young Girls Dressing Up like the Past. 2007.
Keck's Store located at 221 Main St., Sugar Grove, Illinois. In 1893, Will E. Keck and a few others formed the Sugar Grove Supply Company at 221 Main Street. Eventually, Will bought the others owners out and became the sole owner. The building burned down around 1918 and was later rebuilt on the same site in brick. His son W.R. “Spiv” Keck took over the store, and it was know as Keck’s Store for many years. It was a grocery and hardware store and the only retail business in town for many years. Mr. Keck retired and sold the business in 1980.
Keck's Store located at 221 Main St., Sugar Grove, Illinois. The building of the Sugar Grove Supply Company located at 221 Main Street was built in 1893. It later burned down around 1918 and became the site of Keck's Store. Keck's store was built in brick and remains there today.
Photo shows Johnson House on west side of Main Street before it was relocated. Photo also shows former restaurant "The Point Restaurant and Lounge" and "Chicago West / The Retreat 1111" on the east side of Main Street before it was demolished. From north od Railroad Tracks, looking south, 1994
Sugar Grove Supply Company, 221 Main Street, Circa 1909
The building of the Sugar Grove Supply Company located at 221 Main Street was built in 1893. It later burned down around 1918 and became the site of Keck's Store.
Illini Motel: History from Marian and Ed Saloga
Marian and Ed Saloga describe how they built the Illini Motel in 1953. TRANSCRIPTION March 1984 The Illini Motel is located on the west side of Route 47 just north of Cross Street in Sugar Grove. It was built in 1953 and 1954. We had five units, a storeroom, and our living quarters in the center. The office was in front, living room, dining room, kitchen, two bedrooms, breezeway, and a two car garage. We moved in on a cold day, December 15, 1953. We had to move in the units as the house wasn’t finished. We had only been in there a few days and our first visitor was Rev. Mercer inviting us to the Methodist Church and making us feel so welcome. We went to the school Christmas program, and everyone was so friendly. We opened in May of 1954. We weren’t ready right then but five people stopped and need rooms. The rooms were clean but the drapes weren’t finishes. We got busy and made beds and hung drapes temporarily, and we were in business. At the time we moved to Sugar Grove, the population was one hundred and seventy-five. Our boys went to school in the old school building south of the Community Building, and kindergarten was held in the Community Building. In 1957, we added three more units and a storeroom on the north end of the Motel. In 1959, we build an Esther Williams swimming pool, much to the joy of our boys and their friends in town. The state then bought twenty-five feet of our frontage for the cloverleaf, and we lost the pool. We lost our two direct accesses, and they gave us a frontage road, as it is today. The following year, 1961, we built the House of Plenty Restaurant. Mr. and Mrs. Ray Weltch, their daughter and husband, Eva and Chester Leland, rented it and had if for 10 years. Mr. and Mrs. George Ratos rented an eventually bought it. They are celebrating their thirteenth year this March 1984. We built the apartments in back of the motel in 1968 and 1970. We sold the motel in 1970 to Dolly and Ed Kunsh. They had it until 1982 when George Ratos bought it and converted it into apartments. We have lived here thirty-one years and in that time Ed has built many houses in the village. We have been active in the Church Board, P.T.A., Village Board, and have enjoyed living here. /Signed/ Marian Saloga and Ed Saloga March 1984
Will A. Johnson & Sons Company: Advertisement
Will A. Johnson & Sons Company Sugar Grove, Illinois Breeders and Dealers in Registered Hampshire Swine. Most Popular Blood Lines. Breeding Stock any age for sale at all times.