BOLINGBROOK TRIVIA QUIZ

1. What year did (non-Indian settlers reach the present day Bolingbrook
area?
1830

2. What Indian tribe occupied the Bolingbrook area in the early 19th centrury?
Pottawatomi

3. What year did Old Chicago open?
1975

4. What event inspired the nickname "Bolingbrook-by-the-sea"?
Cornfield Regatta

5. Who was a) the first(and only) "Commodore" and b) what was name of
the prize for the event in question #4?
A) Terry Little and B) the Fabled Flamingo Cup

6. What was the name given to the area along the East Branch of the DuPage
River because of the natural springs located there?
Fountaindale

7. What is the oldest church in Bolingbrook, yet one of the newest?
1st Presbyterian Church of DuPage, founded in 1833, annexed to
Bolingbrook in 1989

8. What year did the Old Chicago Amusement Park close?
1981

9. What was the year in which Bolingbrook High School opened
1974

10. What is the meaning of the Indian Boundary signs?
They mark they mark the boundary line of a safe passage zone through Indian
territory

11. When was the first burial at the Boardman Cemetery?
1832

12. What does CIA stand for in Bolingbrook?
Clow International Airport

13. When did the year-round school system in the Valley View School District
begin and end?
1970 & 1980

14. How long was Roy Hassert Supervisor of DuPage Township?
28 years

15. What year did DuPage Township go over $1 billion in assesed valuation?
1996

16. What year marked the end of the one room school houses in the
Bolingbrook area?
1953

17. What was Bolingbrook's first modern school?
North View

18. What year did Oak View Elementary School burn?
1980

19. Who was Bolingbrook's first woman mayor?
Pat McDowell

20. How many village halls has Bolingbrook had?
3

21. What was the prior use of the building now housing Brook Ridge Funeral
home?
Village Hall #2

22. What mayor did the wiring for the second village hall?
Bob Shanks

23. What was the name of Bolingbrook's first fast food restaurant?
Breit's Drive-In

24. What was Bolingbrook's first supermarket?
Tortura's

25. What year was the Beacon first published?
1962

26. Who was the first publisher of the Beacon?
Joan McGowan

27. Who rediscovered the abandoned Boardman Cemetery?
Lois Michel

28. What year was Bolingbrook incorporated?
1965

29. What year did an attempt for incorporation fail?
1963

30. What movie filmed a scene in Old Chicago?
The Fury

31. What movie filmed a scene at Clow Airport?
Folks

32. Name the Olympic medal winner in 1920 who farmed in what is now
Bolingbrook?
Basil Bennett

33. What medal did he win and in what event?
The Bronze medal in the Hammer Throw

34. What was the origin for names for Oak View and Wood View Schools?
They were named for Indian Oaks and Winston Woods subdivisions,
respectively

35. Who was the Thompson Air Race award winner in 1937 who resided at
Barbers Corners?
Rudy Kling

36. What U.S. President visited Bolingbrook High School and in what year did
he do it?
Ronald Reagan in 1984

37. Where was Bolingbrook's first water slide?
Prairie Mountain

38. What 3 U.S. Presidential candidates have "visited" Bolingbrook?
Regan, Bush, Goldwater

39. What was the original Route designation for I-55?
Route 66

40. What was the name of the first modern housing tract built here in the
1960's and who was the Builder/Developer?
Westbury, built by Dover Construction

41. Name the 3 uses of the white farm house on East Briarcliff after it was a
private residence?
Dover Construction office, Rector, Village Hall/Jail

42. How many tracks were used in the year-round school system?
4

43. Who was the originator of the 45-15 plan?
Pat Page, high school typing teacher

44. What does the 45-15 mean?
45 days in school, 15 days off

45. What rare automobile were discovered, then airlifted out of Steinhouse's
junkyard?
3 Cord autos

46. What were the two anchor department stores at the former South
Commons Mall?
Crawfords and K-mart

47. What was the first department store in Bolingbrook?
Zayre

48. Where were the first and second Post Offices located in incorporated
Bolingbrook?
Old Chicago(first) and Briar Square(second)

50. Where is our historic 200 year old tree located?
Naperville & Boughton Roads near Builders Sq.

51. What variety is this tree?
Sugar Maple

52. What was the prior use of Kerkstra's Cleaners located on the corner of
Boughton road and Schmidt Road?
Chicken Unlimited

53. When did Bolingbrook get its first golf course?
1981

54. What year did the Wave Pool open?
1982

55. What was the name of the first general store at Barbers Corners?
Grace Erickson's Clover Farm Store

56. What was the name of the fast food resturant located at the same place as
Family Square restaurant?
Mr. Quick

57. What Bolingbrook mayor served two non-consecutive terms?
Bob Bailey

58. When did Bolingbrook get it's first movie theatre?
1977

59. Who was the first village trustee to serve 10 non-consecutive years?
Peggy Danhof

60. What did the name JEBCO stand for?
Partners: John Annerino, Eric Haupenstein, Bob Bailey & Co.

61. Who has served as the DuPage Township Assessor the longest?
Jim Bingle (27 years and counting)

62. Who has served as the DuPage Township Assessor when Bolingbrook was
incorporated?
Tom Bruce

63. Who is the largest tax payer in Bolingbrook?
Prudential

64. An underground newspaper surfaced mysteriously on one Halloween
night. What was its name?
The Phantom Press

65. The vicinity of Boughton Road and Route 53 was originally called by what
name?
Barbers Corners

66. What were a) the two restaurants that previously occupied the recently
demolished Aurelio's Pizza facility, b) the two restaurants that were located
where Bob Evans now is and c) the three restaurants that failed in the
present Award Emblem building?
a) Perkins Cake & Steak, and Family Tree, b) Cobbs and The Coffeehouse,
c) Armandos,The Abbey,and La Marguerita.

67. Where was the first fire station located in Bolingbrook?
East Briarcliff Road

68. Where the first park located in Bolingbrook?
Central Park

69. The Bolingbrook Park District was formed in what year?
1970

70. Bolingbrook has how many parks?
25 (with 3 more planned for near future)

71. What year did Bolingbrook Park District win the National Gold Medal
Award?
1980 (Note - they are also a finalist for 1996)

72. What two years did Trojan Football win the national championships?
1992 & 1994

73. What does JBSRA stand for?
Joliet Bolingbrook Special Recreational Association

74. Where was Joe's Barbershop located?
Brook Ct - west of the Oil Change Place

75. What festival in 1981, in Washington D.C. was the Bolingbrook High School
band invited to participate in?
Cherry Blossom Festival (Note - -it was almost cancelled because of Regan
getting shot just before the band was ready to leave.)

76. Who was Bolingbrook High School principal for the most years?
Everette Greene

77. The Bolingbrook High School band performed in what "Bowl Game"?
Fiesta Bowl

78. When was the pedestrian overpass over Route 53 at Briarcliff taken down
because of the widening of Route 53 to four lanes?
Our best estimate is 1979 or 1980; if you know exactly please let us know

79. What previously stood on the site of the Union 76 Truck Stop?
A one room school house

80. What broke the Schmidt Road bridge located at Hidden Lakes?
A Commonwealth Edison truck

81. What was the prior name of Boughton Road?
Oldfield Drive

82. Who was Boughton road named after?
Rueben Boughton (Wheatland Township Supervisor and Chairman of the
Will County Good Roads Committee for many years)

83. What 2 supermarkets formerly occupied the same space as American
Sales?
A&P and Great Scot

84. What parade originated in the mid 1980's
The Festival Lights

85. Who danced on the dome of Old Chicago to celebrate its grand openings?
A Bolingbrook resident, Michele Mauthe

86. When was Bolingbrook's first anniversary parade?
1966

87. When did the first plane land at Clow International Airport?
1957

88. How did Clow International Airport get its name?
When returning from Michigan, sometime around 1962, Boyd Clow was
required to list a destination on his flight plan. As a lark, he listed Clow
International Airport, which has remained as such to this day.

89. What now occupies the space Zayres once held?
Century Tile

90. What was Bolingbrook's first bank?
Midwest Savings Bank (by Denny's)

91. Who wrote the "I was just thinking" column in the local newspapers?
Frank Gist

92. After what two people was the Deatherage-Drdak Center named and who
were they?
"Pop" Drdak & Alan Deatherage (prominent senior citizens from
Romeoville and Bolingbrook, respectively)

93. When did Bolingbrook get its own zip code?
July 1, 1990

94. On March 22, 1873, a group of young men from the 1st Presbyterian Church
of DuPage met to organize what association?
YMCA - After its 1st few years of success it is not known what caused it to
dissolve.

95. Name the three cemeteries in Bolingbrook and tell who may be buried in
each?
Boardman, Hillcrest, and the Pet Cemetery (No one, anyone, and animals,
respectively)

96. What subdivisions have their streets named after a) famous printer b)
famous baseball players, and c) persons buried in a local cemetery?
a) The Clusters, b) Home Run, and c) Heritage Creek

97. What subdivisions have their streets named in alphabetical order?
Old Bolingbrook (Westbury and Colonial Village)

98. What is the largest industrial building in Bolingbrook?
Commonwealth Edison (where Johnson & Johnson used to be located)

99. Who was Bolingbrook's largest Builder/Developer?
Kaufman & Broad (over 3000 homes and townhomes)

100. Where did the name Bolingbrook originate?
Dover Construction Co. used it as the official name on their various
subdivisions; where they got the name is a mystery, but speculation is that
was of English origin because their logo was a portly English gentleman
(Ben Dover).

(Compiled 8/96 for the Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission by the
DuPage Township Assessor's office staff.)