Jessica points out an Elgin fanatic’s MySpace page (that Elgin bug sure gets around), in which he lists seven architectural wonders of Elgin, which was compiled from a survey apparently. So what are these wonders?

They are:

1. Elgin Tower Building - 1929
2. Professional Building - 1927
3. John Newman (Butterman) Mansion - 1889
4. Elgin National Watch Company Observatory - 1909
5. Pratt Castle - 1937
6. O’Conner - Leetz Funeral Home - 188?
7. Lords Park Pavilion - 1897

The Elgin fanatic’s MySpace page also lists some great Elgin trivia:

• The Elgin National Watch Company was one of the first manufacturing complex’s in the world and produced over 60 million watches between 1864 and 1966.
• The first street sweeper was invented here in 1914.
• The first steel roller coaster was built here in 1909.
• In the late 19th century, Elgin was the dairy capital of the United States.
• Elgin is 173 years old.
• Six US presidents have visited Elgin: Ulysses Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and George Bush Sr.
• Several movies/TV series’ have been partially filmed here: Grace Under Fire (1993), American Son In Law (1982), Car Thief (1986), Coach of the Year (1980), Death and Taxis (2004), Four Friends..aka Georgia’s Friends (1981), Hoffa (1992), Magnum Stories (2006), The Skull of Pain (1997), Two Rivers (1999), Dead Calling (2007), Dennis the Menice (1993).
• The Tower Building, Elgin’s tallest building, was the tallest building between Chicago and Rockford when it was completed in 1929.
• Pa from the book “Little House on the Prairie” lived in a cabin west of Elgin in the 1840’s.
• Elgin is the largest northern suburb.
• Some of the first automobiles were manufactured here.
• The name “Elgin” comes from a Scottish hymn.
• The oldest existing building in Elgin dates from 1846.
• A tornado ripped through Elgin on Palm Sunday in 1920 and killed 7 people.
• Besides Chicago, more books have been written about Elgin than any other city in Illinois.
• The first streamliner was designed by an Elgin High School graduate.
• Former United States president Calvin Coolidge is buried in an Elgin-made casket.
• The famed “Golden Spike” of the Transcontinental Railroad was made by an Elgin native.
• Charles Comiskey, the man whom Comiskey Park was named after, played for Elgin’s first baseball team in the mid 1870’s.
• The first planetarium in the Western Hemisphere, the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, was created by Elgin native Max Adler.
• Elgin is home to the oldest continuously operating natural history museum building in Illinois.
• Elgin has the highest concentration of cobblestone structures in the state.
• Elgin was once home to the worlds largest radio broadcast museum.
• In 1871, Elgin offered its horse drawn steamer to help fight the Great Chicago Fire but was refused.

I didn’t even know about a lot of that stuff. I hope we can welcome him to the ever-expanding Elgin blogosphere soon.

Apropos, please welcome Lovin Elgin to the blogosphere.

And hopefully you are already regular readers of Jessica’s Life in Elgin blog. Jessica posts frequently, so make sure you visit her site often or grab her RSS feed.

Filed under: history.
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