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 Left:
"C. & N. W. Depot, Sycamore, Ill." This building still remains,
although
no tracks go into Sycamore now. Right: Sycamore Chicago & Great
Western
Depot, mailed in 1911. The depot was built about 1880. |
|
Left:
"C. & N. W. Depot, Sycamore, Ill." This building still remains,
although
no tracks go into Sycamore now. Right: Sycamore Chicago & Great
Western
Depot, mailed in 1911. The depot was built about 1880. |
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Left: Woodstock & Sycamore Traction Co. Gasoline Motor-Car, Sycamore. |
 |
 "Greetings
From Sycamore, ILL." both mailed in 1910. Left: Top: Waterman Hall;
Swedish
Luth. Church; State Street. Center: M. E. Church; Public Library.
Bottom:
First Cong'l Church; Court House; First Baptist Church. Right: Middle
left
is Sycamore Hospital (later Elks Home). Left bottom: High School. |
 |
 Left:
a later mulit-view of Sycamore. Top: Post Office; DeKalb Court House;
Library. Center: see below. Bottom: Central School; view at right; High
School.Right: the bottom center view. This is a rare photo of State Street looking east from the Court House. |
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 Left:
State Street looking west (the trees are in front of the court house).Right: From the sidewalk of the same spot on State Street - looking west. |
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 These
are not postcards, but photographs taken in August and September of
1897.
The one on the left is labeled, on the back, "T. L. Mullen" and shows
the
north side of State Street looking west. It must have been taken from
the
top floor of the Pierce Building. The black blob and line were on the
negative.
The one on the right is labeled, "Alley back of Browns store." |
 |
 Left: A photo
from the 1800s of the north side of State Street. On the
back is the key to the numbers: 1 is the Court House; 2 is
George's Block (on building face); 3 is J. H. Rogers &
Co. Note many of the wagons have snow runners.
Enlargements: Left half; Right
half.Right: This view shows the same side of State Street as below, left. On the back the note says "Sycamore, State Street July 4th 1910." |
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 Left:
State Street looking west showing the Sycamore Universalist Church at
the very end. Right: Sycamore Universalist Church on the corner of California and State Streets. |
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 Left:
The north side of State Street about 1905, at the intersection of
California,
looking east before the hotel building was built. Right: a card showing
both sides of the street. The utility poles are still along the street,
but were moved before the next pictures were taken. |
 |
 Left
and right are views of State Street East from California. The Hotel
Ward in on the right. In the view on the left a light hangs from
overhead wires. On the right that has been replaced by muli-globe light
posts.
|
 |
 Left:
State Street from California Street in the 1930's. Right: the same view
in the 1940's - the buildings
opposite the hotel have changed significantly. The street
lights are
the same, but were changed when the next picture was taken. |
 |
 Left:
about 1956 is the Fargo Hotel and Ben Franklin 5 & 10 in the
double
building. Some of the oldest buildings at the far end are still
there. Right: the same view in May of 2003. Most notable is
the modification
to the roof of the hotel, now the Stratford Inn. Still next to the
hotel
is Ben Franklin. |
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 Left:
"West State Street, Looking East" mailed in 1912. The building in the
middle
on the right with the three lightning rods is the Pierce Building. The
shorter buildings this side of it can be seen in the 2004 picture at
the
right. A sign on the first building, partly covered, says hotel. That
building
was torn down. |
 |
 Left:
on the south side of State Street west of California is the Fargo
Theatre
with a double feature and a poster for the 1926 movie "Sorrows of
Satan."
Another sign says "Fargo Sweet Shop." Right: the theater in May of 2004
with pizza instead of sweets. |
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 Left:
State Street West from Maple.Right: an earlier view (before the light posts) from about the same spot. |
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 Left:
the south side looking west about 1905. The building with the peak was
built in the 1800's and was taken down, along with the small building
to
its right, for the expansion of the bank. Right: "State Street Looking
West" about 1942. The Court House is at the right. |
 |
 The
south side of State Street looking west in May of 2003. All of the
buildings
on the end are at least 100 years old. The bank takes up the rest of
the
block. At the right is a close-up of the Pierce Building, most recently
Henderson's, built in 1896 at the intersection of Somonauk. |
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 Left:
"State Street West of Main, Sycamore" showing part of the park in from
the of the court house on the right. Right: The red brick building is
at
the intersection of Maple and is shown above, left. This is all that is
left of the old buildings east of that intersection. |
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 Left:
a photograph taken August 2, 1897 of the Civil War memorial,
erected
in 1896, and the building torn down to make room for the new court
house.
Right: "De Kalb County Court House - Sycamore, Illinois." The building, constructed in 1903/4, is on the north side of State Street. This looks almost exactly the same today. For more history of the courthouse buildings, see this site and this site. |
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DeKalb County Court House in Sycamore with snow and ice on the trees. This real photo postcard was mailed in December of 1915. |
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 "Public
Library & Fountain" mailed in 1914. This is on the east side of
the
court house at the intersection of State and Main. Most cards do not
show
the fountain. The library was built in 1904 and expanded in 1996.
Right:
May 2003. |
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"St. John's English Lutheran Church." The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. John, 327 S. Main St., Sycamore was destroyed by fire Monday, February 9, 2004, including a wing that had been added to the right. See the church's website for additional information. |
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Turner Brass Works, Sycamore, mailed July 10, 1907. A note on the card said, "This is Sycamore's new Factory just opened." The company was established in 1871 by E. F. Turner and was located on the near North Side of Chicago. Charles Rickett purchased the company several years later. In 1907, he moved the company to Sycamore, Illinois. Since 1907, there have been more changes in ownership. There is more information here. |
