Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission Restores Barber's Corner Marker

The following was provided by the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission

Recently the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission restored the historic marker which was mounted on a boulder at the northeast corner of Route 53 and Boughton Road by the Bolingbrook Historical Society in 1979.

In addition, the Commission was able to mount the newly-restored plaque on a signpost to improve visibility. The Commission was able to undertake the restoration and purchase the new mounting through donations from the community and from First Midwest Bank, located on that corner.

"Barber's Corners" was listed on Illinois road maps until 1975 and is commemorated with the plaque and through street signs. The Bolingbrook Board of Trustees named the street from Taco Bell to Lube Pros (then Wendy's and the old village hall) "Barber's Corners Road."

The following is the wording on plaque erected at Barber's Corners

:

This intersection of Route 53 and Boughton Road, known as Barber's Corners, was never an incorporated municipality. It was named after the John Barber family who came here from Vermont in 1832. Over the last century and a half there has been at this corner a general store, Methodist Church, cheese factory, and one-room school house. It was twice the location of the DuPage Post Office. Barber's Corners served the needs of the people in this area for decades, long before Bolingbrook was incorporated in 1965. This plaque is to insure that this part of our history endures, even though the name may disappear from the map.



Bolingbrook Historical Society 1979

To obtain information about the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission and its activities, please see the web site at www.bolingbrookhistprescomm.org or send an e-mail to bbhistprescomm@yahoo.com.