Village of Romeoville history

A significant number of white settlers began to arrive in the area in the late 1820s.

On the 13th day of May, the Surveyor’s certificate was filed, and on the 10th of June, 1834, the plat was recorded and the town christened to “Juliet,” for Campbell’s daughter, it is said …

The town of Romeo originated on the east side of Des Plaines River and was initially settled in 1835.

Ground for the canal was finally broken on July 4, 1836 in Bridgeport.

When the depression of 1837 hit, it greatly hurt canal land sales and growth slowed.

The Illinois and Michigan Canal was completed in 1848.

Railroads began running through the area in 1854.

In 1886, the Romeo depot was built by Santa Fe, which had acquired the railroad at that time.

In 1895, the people decided to incorporate and named their new village Romeoville.

In 1990 the bridge was found structurally unsound, was closed, and replaced. It was built in 1899 by the Strobel Steel Construction Company of Chicago, Illinois.

In 1916, Romeoville gained importance again when it became the distribution point for pulverized limestone, which farmers used to combat alkali spots on their land.

Gleaners Hall on Naperville Road & Illinois Route 53 was built in 1922 and became the center of Romeoville community life for many years.

One driver had car trouble on a night in 1929 and had to spend the night in Romeoville, she said of an unconfirmed tale.

While neighboring industrial centers expanded during the first half of the twentieth century, Romeoville's population decreased, dropping below 150 in 1950.

In 1957, over six hundred acres of farm land on the west bank of the Des Plaines River (now Route 53) was designated for the development of Hampton Park.

In 1958, construction of Hampton Park began on farm land on the West side of the Canal.

Village hall moved into the Hampton Park neighborhood in 1960.

The land of Peter Ward Sr. is where Lockport West High School (now renamed as Romeoville High School) will be built in 1963.

First built in 1964 and called Hampton Park Terrace, this area saw much of its retail development migrate westward to space along Weber Road.

A $200 million expansion of the facility around 1965 was called “the greatest thing to happen to our village,” by then Village President Neal Murphy.

Buoyed by this construction and annexation, as well as by the completion of Interstate 55 (Stevenson Expressway ), the population of Romeoville continued to rise, and by 1970 more than 12,000 resided in the village.

Paul Kaiser, a retired math and computer science professor, moved to Joliet from Cleveland, Ohio, in 1973.

A standalone fire station was built across the street from village hall in 1975.

On October 25, 1990, Romeoville’s interchange on I-55 was opened.

Starting in 1995, the village began expanding west of Weber Road, building homes at a rapid pace.

Although moved in 1996, the 135th Street swing bridge remains within sight-distance of its original location ó part of the Centennial Trail, sitting over the bike trail just north of 135th Street, near the Isle a la Cache Museum.

The I&M Canal was crossed at Romeo Road on a narrow bridge that swung 90 degrees to permit river traffic to pass. It was replaced in 1998 and is visible from the Centennial Trail north of 135thStreet near the Isle a la Cache Museum.

The newly renovated recreation center was opened on January 11, 2002, featuring a fitness center, classrooms, and an area for seniors, in addition to basketball courts and an area for gymnastics.

The village purchased 10 of these acres in 2008 and proceeded to demolished buildings, conduct environmental cleanup, realign and rebuild roads, and build new structures.

The Romeoville Athletic & Event Center was opened in 2014 in an area dubbed Uptown Square, a 40 acre parcel of land sitting southwest of Normantown Road and Route 53 that underwent drastic redevelopment.