Welcome to the Downers Grove Park District Museum Campus

Welcome to the Downers Grove Park District Museum Campus. Downers Grove — An Overview of History. Downers Grove began as a farming community in the 1830s. Downers Grove settlers enjoyed peaceful relationships with the local Potawatomi tribe even though the Black Hawk War was occuring in 1832. During this time Maple Avenue was the Village's main street. , , During the 1860s, with the establishment of the CB and Q Railrond, now known as the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Line, the community expanded and Main Street became Downers Grove's business district. The community's population grew from approximately 350 in 1870 to 2,500 in 1890. Life was still primarily rural in the 1890s; services such as electricity, plumbing, natural gas for heating and telephone service did not arrive until the turn of the century. , , Over the last century Downers Grove has grown from its rural roots to a modern suburb. Today, the Downers Grove Park District Museum provides leisure and educational experiences for the community through collecting, preserving, exhibiting and interpreting materials that explain and document the history of Downers Grove and its relationship to local, state, regional and national history.