Get in the holiday spirit and enter our holiday raffle to win:
1ST PRIZE: $100 Visa Gift Card
If you would like to help sell tickets or wish to purchase tickets they will be available at our October general meeting, the Harvest Dinner and our Christmas Open House. Drawing will take place December 15, 2024. Winner need not be present. Email us at thorntonilhs@gmail.com for info or if you need tickets to buy or sell. Tickets are $1 each or 6/$5. Proceeds benefit the Thornton Historical Society. MORE PRIZES TO BE ANNOUNCED!
Old Homes
Peggy McCann in backyard.
Sean McCann in backyard
Coach house, demolished before house
Sweet home taken 1942 & 219 Nielsen home built 1936
Sweet house built in back of lot, later turned into garage
Sweet and Nielsen homes, Mary and Pat Koester
Curve Inn and George Hering home
Built 1927 as Kooyinga farmhouse
Heman Gardner grain and feed store. 1909 Roth family, 1936 Odin & Mildred Rosenberg family
Taken 1936, Joseph & Mary Black home. Children were Will, Dora, John G., Joseph, Hamilton & Anna. Joseph was Chief of Police and Anna was postmaster
Taken 1885 son John Black
Taken 1980
Demolition
Built 1898, Greg Nelson and family 1948-1965
Built 1893, pictured Joseph Koester
Mrs. Koester and Wayne Klemstein
415 built 1872 and 409 built 1908. 409 is the Pearson family home. Bill Pearson's great grandparents built that house, formed all the bricks by hand.
Built 1890, Krueger home Note dog-powered water wheel in front yard
Same house some years later
Built 1923, John (Tacky) Bielfeldt family
Hoxie House, built 1800s for John Hoxie on land now known as Wampum Lake.
Triplicate quarry worker houses, moved from William Street where Boz Hotdogs now stands. No indoor plumbing.
Sam and Mildred Wojciehowski children George, Laverne and Joe. Moved to this location from near the brewery and purchased by Maodush.
Built 1882, once the Lonnie Sellers home
Built 1872, shows Henry Blank and family (baby is Ermina Blank)
Same house with second floor added, belonged to Blank descendant
Blank house being demolished
Zander house and carpenter shop, SE corner Hunter and Margaret streets
Built 1901, William Henrichs home, child is Chuck Henrichs who later became Village President. Note the outhouse in the yard.
Built 1905, Walter and Margaret (Sweet) Bielfeldt home. Walter was president of the Thornton bank.
Sears Roebuck house
Build 1881. Home of Judge Albert & Minnie Webb. Amy and James Webb in front yard.
Built 1888, Lutheran parsonage
German Lutheran schoolhouse
Built 1879, once the Mandelkow home
Built 1889, Dr. Nelson and Maggie (Ellis) Oliver home
Built 1891, Fleck/Peters house
Cook County Assessor lists construction as 1834. In 1867 it was the Heman Gardner General Store & Halfway House.
In 1961 this was the Hurley residence
In 1963 this was the Pisarzewski home
Oldest house in Thornton, built before the railroad came through
Built 1871, once the Zander home
Built 1937 by Walter and Erma Diekelman on property purchased from neighbor, Judge Albert Webb. Photo taken 1942.
Built 1870 - Taken 2017, Yerkovich and Maodush families once lived there.
Same house, front view taken 2013
(1) Sweet home, dates to 1860s, (2) 115 N Kinzie bought by Maria Louisa Templin, a widow from Prussia with two small children, in 1859. House may have been replaced at some point.
East side of street taken in 2012
Built 1860s, Sweet family home, photo taken 2008
Built 1894, Flanagin house and dairy
1910 view of Flanagin house