Bolingbrook IL 50th

Bolingbrook IL 50th About
This is a tribute to Bolingbrook, Illinois, from 1965 to 2015. We’re about you, Bolingbrook. And you’re invited to join in. It’s reason for celebration.

Bolingbrook is turning 50 this year. It was in 1965 that a few hundred voters went to the polls to officially create the municipality of Bolingbrook. It was just five years earlier that the first modern subdivision was laid out and the first model homes opened to eager young homebuyers just off old Rt. 66. And look what has been accomplished since then. Most towns around us are 100 to 150 years ol

d, but Bolingbrook has played catch up beautifully. Just look at what Money magazine says about us. We’ve made the list of Best Places to Live four consecutive times. We were one of just two Illinois towns named to the top 50 last year. Bolingbrook’s celebrations will be wide-ranging over its anniversary year, and you’ll be able to learn more about them here on our page and at our website www.bolingbrook50.com. Many events will be centered in the summer months to take advantage of the village’s award-winning outdoor stage and grounds. There will be two fireworks displays with bonus anniversary bursts and bangs. There will be 18 free concerts playing music from each of Bolingbrook five decades. How about a giant Birthday Bash where everyone gets cake! You’ll be able to “Explore Bolingbrook” via a smartphone scavenger hunt. There’s something old, and there’s something new. Under old, the village’s first police department and village hall is being renovated to open as a museum in the anniversary year, complete with its original homemade wire jail cells in the basement. A book is coming out featuring archival photographs and history of the town. There will be lots of ways to win a 50th Anniversary prize, right here on Facebook. Look for the upcoming weekly challenges and surveys, plus monthly trivia quizzes, and always the opportunity to share their memories and photos and what they like best about the town they call home.

10/01/2021

Please enjoy browsing through this archived page from 2015 about Bolingbrook history and its yearlong 50th birthday celebration. The page is no longer updated.

09/16/2015

FINAL TRIVIA QUIZ QUESTIONS, 40-50
40. Four movies: “The Fury” shot at Old Chicago, 1978. “Folks!” (Tom Selleck and Don Ameche) 1992 at Clow. , “Battlefield Earth” (John Travolta) 2000, Clow. “Guts & Glory: Rise and Fall of Oliver North” 1989, First Presbyterian Church of DuPage.
41. Ten sites: John Annerino, Bob Bailey, James Boan, Alan Deatherage/Pops Drdak, Mike Drey, Jamie McGee, Bill Plimmer, John Tibbott, B.J. Ward, Bill/Nora Wipfler
42 .6.7 million sf of retail stores
43. 1,200 homes in 1965
44 .Mayor Roger Claar, Clerk Carol Penning, Trustees Leroy Brown, Mike Lawler, Joe Morelli, Rick Morales, Pat Schanks, Maria Zarate,
45. DuPage River, Lily Cache Creek
46. 13 years
47. 75,000
48. Oak View
49. First phone prefixes: 739 east of R. 53, and 759 west.
50. Was Lemont Rural Route originally
BONUS: 1980, first post office built in town

09/15/2015

FINAL TRIVIA QUIZ QUESTIONS, 40-50
40. How many Hollywood movies filmed some scenes in Bolingbrook? Can you name them and where they filmed?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6
41. How many Bolingbrook schools and public buildings are named for local people?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
E. 10
42. Approximately how many square feet of stores does Bolingbrook have in 2015?
A. 6.7 million sf
B. 145,000 sf
C. 589,000 sf
D. 2.4 million sf
43. How many houses were there when Bolingbrook was incorporated?
A. 325
B. 587
C. 1,200
D. 5,300
44. Name the current Village Board of Trustees. ____________
45. Name the main waterways through Bolingbrook. _________
46. How old is Bolingbrook Golf Club in 2015?
A. 8 years
B. 9 years
C. 12 years
D. 13 years
47. What is Bolingbrook’s approximate population expected to be by the end of its 50th anniversary year?
A. 50,000
B. 65,000
C. 75,000
D. 100,000
48. What school burned down in a New Year’s fire in 1980?
A. Oak View
B. North View
C. Wood View
D. Brook View
49. What was the significance of 739 and 759? ____________________
50. Why are the mailboxes at the curb, and not on the houses? _________________
BONUS: When did Bolingbrook get its own Post Office?

09/15/2015

ANSWERS TO TRIVIA QUESTIONS 21-39
21. Islamorada Restaurant (Bass Pro)
22. 5 years
23 27 holes
24. Where the first subdivisions were built
25. Blue bin recycling
26. 1964. 1st fire house opened here (by Lemont Fire District)
27. Two built, plus existing farmhouse
28. Four (first of 5 built by Lemont)
29. 375 W. Briarcliff Road
30. Bolingbrook Drive
31. Three: E. Briarcliff, E. Boughton, W. Briarcliff
32. 1972 – Zayre
33. Seven: 6 trustees + 1 mayor to break tie
34. One school
35. Fourteen public schools
36 .Number of days of the year
37. 111th Street, now Re*****on Blvd.
38. White farmhouse that became 1st rec center
39 .61 traffic signals

09/12/2015

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BOLINGBROOK, PART 2
How well do you feel you did on the first 20 questions? Here are numbers 21-39.
21. Where can you see a fish catching a man? ________

22. How old was Bolingbrook when the park district was formed?
A. Park district was first
B. The next year
C. 3 years
D. 5 years

23. How many full-size golf holes do we have?________

24. What was Historic Bolingbrook?
A. Where the settlers first started farming
B. Where the first village hall was built
C. Where the old historic church was
D. Where the first subdivisions were built

25. Who was the Blue Fairy and what did she promote
in 1989? ___________

26. What year was the first fire station opened?
A. 1961
B. 1962
C. 1964
D. 1965
E. 1968

27. How many Village Halls has Bolingbrook built?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

28. How many fire stations has Bolingbrook built?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

29. Where does Bolingbrook hold municipal court?
A. 444 E. Briarcliff Road
B. 168 E. Boughton Road
C. 375 W. Briarcliff Road
D. 101 S. Weber Road

30. What is Rt. 53 called as it passes through Bolingbrook? ____

31. How many jails has Bolingbrook had? __________________
A. 1, after that they went to Will County lock-up
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

32. When did Bolingbrook get its first shopping center, and what was the anchor store?
A. 1968 – A & P
B. 1972 – Zayre
C. 1975 – Crawford’s
D. 1978 – Kmart

33. How many people on the Village Board can vote?
A. 6
B. 7
C. 12
D. 15

34. How many public schools were there 50 years ago, in 1965?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

35. How many public schools are located in Bolingbrook in 2015?
A. 10
B. 12
C. 14
D. 16

36. What does “365” stand for in the school district name Valley View 365-U?
A. Number of days of the year
B. Month and year – March of ’65 – it was created
C. Number of students originally enrolled
D. Designation by the State of Illinois

37. What was nicknamed the “road to nowhere” in the ‘80s?
A. 111th Street, because it led to no buildings at all at first
B. Lily Cache Lane, which wasn’t even paved in the 1960s
C. Naperville Road, which went north
D. Schmidt Road, which dead ended at a farm field

38. What was nicknamed the “White House”?
A. Little white farmhouse that became village hall
B. Little white farmhouse that became a rec center
C. Big white house owned by Royce family
D. Big white house lived in by Clow family at the airport

39. How many traffic signals does Bolingbrook have in 2015?
A. 53
B. 61
C. 79
D. 95

09/12/2015

ANSWERS TO TRIVIA QUIZ QUESTIONS 1-20
1. Issuing a liquor license for the grocery store
2. Jack Leonard
3. Patricia McDowell
4. 50 park sites
5. Addams Middle School
6. 1971 Bolingbrook Fire Dept. broke from Lemont's
7. 3 -- Los Burritos Tapatios, Coop’s Den, Portillo’s now
8. 3 Ronald Reagan, George Walker Bush, Barack Obama
9. Salk Elementary School
10. Bob Bailey
11. Bolingbrook Commons
12. Totura’s on Frontage Road
13. Instituted year-round 45/15 school year
14. 1977, Plitt Theater, across from Old Chicago
15. 1968 1st paid patrol officer
16. 60439, 60440, 60490
17. Village Clerk’s (For 2 years. Farmhouse was PD, except dispatch at mayor’s house. Board met at North View)
18. Indoor stores and rides
19. 5 years 1975-80 Old Chicago
20. Definitely two – 1963 and 1965. Tries at incorporating.

09/12/2015

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BOLINGBROOK? PART II
Here are the final 30 questions out of 50 in Bolingbrook's anniversary trivia quiz. Look for the answers in a few days.
21. Where can you see a fish catching a man? ______

22. How old was Bolingbrook when the park district was formed?
A. Park district was first
B. The next year
C. 3 years
D. 5 years

23. How many full-size golf holes are there in Bolingbrook? ____

24. What was Historic Bolingbrook?
A. Where the settlers first started farming
B. Where the first village hall was built
C. Where the old historic church was
D. Where the first subdivisions were built

25. Who was the Blue Fairy and what did she promote starting in 1989? ___________

26. What year was the first fire station opened?
A. 1961
B. 1962
C. 1964
D. 1965
E. 1968

27. How many Village Halls has Bolingbrook built?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

28. How many fire stations has Bolingbrook built?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5

29. Where does Bolingbrook hold municipal court?
A. 444 E. Briarcliff Road
B. 168 E. Boughton Road
C. 375 W. Briarcliff Road
D. 101 S. Weber Road

30. What is state highway Rt. 53 called as it passes through Bolingbrook? _________

31. How many jails has Bolingbrook had?
A. 1, after that they went to Will County lock-up
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

32. When did Bolingbrook get its first shopping center, and what was the anchor store?
A. 1968 – A & P
B. 1972 – Zayre
C. 1975 – Crawford’s
D. 1978 – Kmart

34. How many people on the Village Board can vote?
E. 6
F. 7
G. 12
H. 15

33. How many public schools were there 50 years ago, in 1965?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

34. How many public schools are located in Bolingbrook in 2015?
A. 10
B. 12
C. 14
D. 16

35. What does “365” stand for in the school district name Valley View 365-U?
A. Number of days of the year
B. Month and year – March of ’65 – it was created
C. Number of students originally enrolled
D. Designation by the State of Illinois

36. What was nicknamed the “road to nowhere” in the '80s?
A. 111th Street, because it led to no buildings at all at first
B. Lily Cache Lane, which wasn’t even paved in the 1960s
C. Naperville Road, which went north
D. Schmidt Road, which dead ended at a farm field

37. What was nicknamed the “White House”?
A. Little white farmhouse that became village hall
B. Little white farmhouse that became a rec center
C. Big white house owned by Royce family
D. Big white house lived in by Clow family at the airport

38. How many traffic signals does Bolingbrook have in 2015?
A. 53
B. 61
C. 79
D. 95

39. How many Hollywood movies filmed some scenes in Bolingbrook? Can you name them and where they filmed?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 4
D. 5
E. 6

40. How many Bolingbrook schools and public buildings are named for local people?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 6
D. 8
E. 10

41. Approximately how many square feet of stores does Bolingbrook have in 2015?
A. 6.7 million sf
B. 145,000 sf
C. 589,000 sf
D. 2.4 million sf

42. How many houses were there when Bolingbrook was incorporated?
A. 325
B. 587
C. 1,200
D. 5,300

43. Name the current Village Board of Trustees. ____________________

44. Name the main waterways through Bolingbrook. _________________

45. How old is Bolingbrook Golf Club in 2015?
A. 8 years
B. 9 years
C. 12 years
D. 13 years

46. What is Bolingbrook’s approximate population expected to be by the end of its 50th anniversary year?
A. 50,000
B. 65,000
C. 75,000
D. 100,000

47. What school burned down in a New Year’s fire in 1980?
A. Oak View
B. North View
C. Wood View
D. Brook View

48. What was the significance of 739 and 759? ____________________

49. Why are the mailboxes at the curb, and not on the houses? _________________

50. When did Bolingbrook first get a post office? ___________

09/09/2015

HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT BOLINGBROOK?
Test your knowledge with these trivia questions. Here are the first 20 out of 50. You can post your answers in a Comment to play along. Good luck! More questions and the answers later!

1. What was the first ordinance that was passed in Bolingbrook?
A. Designating the name of the town
B. Declaring the winners of the election
C. Issuing a liquor license for the lone grocery store
D. Setting the first property tax

2. Who was the first Village President/Mayor?
A. Bob Schanks
B. Jack Leonard
C. Bob Bailey
D. Bill Plimmer
E. Neil Armstrong

3. Who was the first female mayor?
A. Joanne Girard
B. Patricia McDowell
C. Pat Schanks
D. Nora Wipfler

4. How many parks are there in Bolingbrook? __________

5. What is the approximate geographic center of Bolingbrook?
A. Taco Bell
B. Bolingbrook High School
C. Town Center
D. Johansen’s Farm
E. Addams Middle School

6. What year did the village get its own fire department?
A. 1962
B. 1965
C. 1971
D. 1972

7. How many Portillo’s has Bolingbrook had, and where?
A. 2 – On W. Boughton same as now and E. Boughton Road where Blockbuster was
B. 3 – Old Chicago and Boughton & 53 near Grove Dental
C. 3 -- Where Los Burritos Tapatios, Coop’s Den, and Portillo’s are now.
D. 4 – at one time or another, at all corners of Rt. 53 and Boughton

8. How many U.S. Presidents or presidents-to-be have visited Bolingbrook? Can you name them?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

9. Which school could have had its mascot “The Vaccines” or “Super Shots”? How many school mascots can you name? _____________

10. Who was the first mayor to be elected to a second term?
A. Bob Bailey
B. Daryl Schanks
C. Roger Claar
D. Ed Rosenthal

11. Where was Bolingbrook’s first Walgreens?
A. Bolingbrook Commons
B. South Commons Mall
C. Indian Oaks Plaza
D. Quadrangle Shops

12. Where was the first grocery store?
A. Totura’s on Frontage Road
B. Totura’s on E. Briarcliff
C. A & P in the Commons
D. Day ‘n Night on Schmidt
E. 7-Eleven on E. Briarcliff

13. In 1970, when the school board couldn’t build new schools fast enough, what did they do? ___________

14. What year did Bolingbrook get its first movie theater?
A. 1957, Bel-Air Drive-in, open field where WeatherTech is now
B. 1968, Cascadian Theater, where Dominick’s was later
C. 1977, Plitt Theater, across from Old Chicago
D. 1988, Kerasotes, Boughton near Weber

15. What year did Bolingbrook get its first paid police officer under a paid chief?
A. 1962
B. 1965
C. 1966
D. 1968

16. Name all of Bolingbrook’s Zip Codes. _________________

17. What garage held the first village offices?
A. Farmhouse’s
B. Village Clerk’s
C. Village President’s
D. North View School’s

18. What was Old Chicago most famous for?
A. Arena style concert venue
B. Dome modeled after Florence, Italy
C. Mayor Charlie Baffle
D. Stores and rides indoors

19. How many years was Old Chicago open?
A. 5
B. 6
C. 7
D. 8

20. How many tries did it take to incorporate Bolingbrook as a municipality?
A. Just one – 1965
B. Definitely two – 1963 and 1965
C. Possibly three -- 1963, 1964, 1965
D. Four would be too many – 1961, 1964, 1965, 1969

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAYPATHWAYS PARADE, SUNDAY, SEPT. 13, 2 pm. Original Bolingbrookers wasted no time in staging a par...
09/09/2015

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY
PATHWAYS PARADE, SUNDAY, SEPT. 13, 2 pm. Original Bolingbrookers wasted no time in staging a parade to mark the anniversary of their new town. The first Pathways Parade was Sept. 25, 1966. This year's 50th Anniversary Pathways Parade will proceed from Bolingbrook High School, east on Lily Cache Lane, north on Canterbury Lane to Briarcliff Road, turning west to the entrance to the Town Center. A mini-fest with food and beverages, a live band, games for the kids and parade awards immediately follows. Photos from 1960s and '70s parades.

09/04/2015

WINNERS OF GREAT SELFIES SCAVENGER HUNT!
These people really know Bolingbrook. Using 25 clues to distinctive places around Bolingbrook, they found the places, and send in selfies to prove it. That's how you play the 50th Anniversary Selfie Scavenger Hunt. It's over now, and we can announce the winners.
We'll be publishing the clues here over the weekend so you folks at home can have a chance to "play along" too, and never leave your couch.
Perfect scores got a Selfie Stick and a gift card. Runners-up got gift cards or coupons.
PERFECT 25 OUT OF 25: Katie & Nick Mierop, Linda Harris, Linda Regalado, Sue Kunes
24 OUT OF 25: Dwayne Lucero, Pat Foster, Marco Rodriguez, Todd Obmascik
23 OUT OF 25: Ellen Krasin, Janet Autry, Karen Groth, Nicole Marchluk, Christine Buerger

09/01/2015

Everyone got cake at this 50th birthday party! Even if the candles never lit very well. Happy 50th, Bolingbrook!

https://youtu.be/fslKoq1Gi0w
09/01/2015

https://youtu.be/fslKoq1Gi0w

Various Pictures of Bolingbrook from the 1960's to the 1970's. Gathered by Peggy Drey from the 50th Anniversary Committee.

Address

375 W Briarcliff Road
Bolingbrook, IL
60440

Telephone

(630) 226-8400

Website

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