Posted December 3, 200618 yr DeKalb, Illinois (name of city and county) Known at the "Barb City" or the "Communiversity" Closely connected with it's sister city, Sycamore (the county seat) Part of the Chicago metropolitan statistic area (downtown Chi-town is 60 miles due east) 2005 Population: 42,085, county: 97,665 2000 Population: 39,018, county: 88,969 2005 DeKalb/Sycamore area: approx. 56,000 Home to Northern Illinois University Birthplace of barbed wire (thus the city's nickname) Famous for DeKalb seeds Birthplace of Cindy Crawford (1984 DeKalb High School valedictorian) Famous NIU alumni/students: Joan Allen, Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer Simpson), Dennis Hastert (outgoing Speaker of the House) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a sunny Sunday afternoon so I decided to take a walk; I took these photos a little more than a month ago (around Halloween........so the Egyptian Theatre is all decked out for it's Amenti Haunted House). Also, it was nearing dusk, so I apologize for the shadows and whatnot. DeKalb's downtown is kinda gritty, with primarily 2, 3, and 4 story buildings. There is a push to try to turn downtown DeKalb into something like downtown Naperville ( http://www.naperville.net/downtown/index.html ), only on a smaller scale. Furthermore, DeKalb/Sycamore and DeKalb County is becoming more suburban (due to the outward expansion of Chicagoland); new subdivisions and shopping centers are popping up basically out in the middle of nowhere. The county and city governments have taken action and permits controlled growth.......although a lot of the growth is very sprawl-ish. All in all, not a bad town.........Rockford and Aurora are both very close and Chicago is not much further beyond Aurora. NIU DeKalb seeds ---------Around campus------------ -----------Heading toward downtown------------------ The mighty Kishwaukee :roll: DeKalb's Main Street.......Lincoln Highway (US 30 is now rerouted about 10 miles south of town) Another theatre........but it's now a Mexican restaurant One of DeKalb's busiest intersections [Lincoln Hwy (IL-38) and 4th Street (IL-23)] is diagonally bisected by two sets of heavily-used railroad tracks) Oh, lord........... -----------Walking back to campus----------------- Local landmark: Another view of the Kishwaukee River: Gritty campus area of Lincoln Hwy 1 of 5 Starbucks in DeKalb: ------------das Ende----------------
December 3, 200618 yr Thanks! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 3, 200618 yr Good photos; the light and shadows work. DeKalb's downtown looks like it has some character; the Egyptian Theatre is a beauty. I think GE once had a factory there; it seems to me that Dad used to go there on business trips in the 1940s. If I remember the story correctly, my widowed great-great grandfather was returning to Indiana to get his three children and take them back to Iowa or Kansas where he had bought a farm. Changing trains in DeKalb, he walked in front of a moving train.
December 3, 200618 yr Good photos; the light and shadows work. DeKalb's downtown looks like it has some character; the Egyptian Theatre is a beauty. I think GE once had a factory there; it seems to me that Dad used to go there on business trips in the 1940s. If I remember the story correctly, my widowed great-great grandfather was returning to Indiana to get his three children and take them back to Iowa or Kansas where he had bought a farm. Changing trains in DeKalb, he walked in front of a moving train. Whoa, Rob! That ending was a shocker.
December 3, 200618 yr Good photos; the light and shadows work. DeKalb's downtown looks like it has some character; the Egyptian Theatre is a beauty. I think GE once had a factory there; it seems to me that Dad used to go there on business trips in the 1940s. If I remember the story correctly, my widowed great-great grandfather was returning to Indiana to get his three children and take them back to Iowa or Kansas where he had bought a farm. Changing trains in DeKalb, he walked in front of a moving train. Wow. That is a sad story. Actually, every year, about 3 or 4 people are killed in town, due to the trains. Very dangerous!
December 4, 200618 yr It is about time somebody takes pictures of this city. I have always wondered what this city looked like. It looks pretty nice and clean to me. Thanks for posting those great photos!!
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