I received a message in my Flickr account last week:

I was born in Elgin but only lived there 4 years, although I visited my grandparents and aunt there very, very regularly for the next 12 years. I haven’t been back since the early ’70s when my family moved out of state

Most of my memories of Elgin are of my grandparents’ home. It was a big, old house on a very large lot (2 or 3 acres), a good portion of which was on a hillside that made for fun sledding in the winter. It was less than 1/2 mile south of Lord’s Park so we sometimes ventured there on foot as well.

A few years before he died, my grandfather built a small “castle” in the front yard. This would have been in the early ’60s. It was a bit odd but we loved it. This is what brings me to my reason for writing you…

I’ve often wondered about that castle (whether a later owner tore it down or improved on it) but I no longer have anyone living near Elgin who I could ask. I wondered if, should you ever happen to be in that part of Elgin, you might drive by and just glance over?

Then:

And now:

Filed under: history.
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