The August Ekdahl House

The August Ekdahl House. . This house, seen to the right in the photo above, was hand-built in 1887 by Swedish immigrant August Ekdahl. For over 100 years, this small frame house has contributed to the cultural and economic heritage of Western Springs. This house has served as a residence, a cobbler shop, a post office, a jail, a bicycle shop, an ice cream parlor, a pizza restaurant (seen in the photo to the left), and now, a museum. In 2008, the house was in danger of being demolished. The Western Springs Historical Society spearheaded an effort to save and move the house to this location. It now serves as a testament to the village's history, as well as a tool for exploring the concepts of immigration, community, roles of women, and pursuit of the "American Dream." , , Not only did Ekdahl live in this house, but he also ran his cobbler business here. Ekdahl was just one of over a million Swedes arriving between 1840 and 1920, and just one of millions of Europeans and Asians emigrating to the United States. Western Springs likely was an attractive location for Ekdahl to settle, given that the industrial revolution and the advent of machinery was changing the shoe industry. Moving to a suburb would have given him independence as a craftsman to ply his trade. In addition, Western Springs had a fairly well established Swedish population. Ekdahl seems to have achieved the "American Dream" here in Western Springs. , , Letters written home to Sweden record that Ekdahl rented out part of his shop to Nancy Watson, a post office employee. Miss Watson was part of a trend in the post office's employment of women at the time. By 1900, 10% of all postmasters were women, an unusually large number given that women generally were not well represented in the work force at the time. Ekdahl's house was a logical location for the post office, given that it was on the rail line. Mail could be easily delivered to Miss Watson who would then sort the mail into cubbies. Villagers would come into Ekdahl's shop to pick up their mail, browse at the shoes, and talk about issues of the day. , , "This summer I built a little house on my lot... I have rented out part of it to the post office. I work over in the corner with my shoes. Miss Watson is the name of the lady who runs the post office." August Ekdahl, 1887, in a letter written home to his sister in Sweden. , , [Caption beneath center photo:] , August Ekdahl (left), standing next to his cobbler bench , , [Caption beneath photo on right:] , Official Post Office Document signed by Nancy Watson