 Tours
You wanted to know...
Trolley-la-la-la...la-la-la-la!!
It's never too early to book your December Christmas Light Tour! Reserve the heated
Naperville Trolleys for family, neighborhood, and office Holiday Parties.
1-Hour Tour for 32 passengers: $250
1-Hour Tour for 21 passengers: $200
The Trolley will pick you up and drop you off
at any Naperville residence, business, or restaurant.
Public Holiday Light Tours
Public Holiday Light Tours are $10 each, all ages.
Call 630-420-2223 for dates and times public tours are offered. Reservations are
required. Public tours meet at the dandelion fountain at the Riverwalk (Jackson and
Webster Streets).
HISTORIC TROLLEY TOURS OF NAPERVILLE
(See schedule below for dates)
Tour down memory lane with the Trolley! One-hour tour of DuPage County's oldest and most
productive city (settled in 1831) includes North Central College, Historic District,
charming Downtown Business District, state-of-the-art Police and Fire Stations, Riverwalk
areas and more!
All tours are from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. All tours start and end at the Riverwalk
Dandelion Fountain - corner of Jackson and Webster. Reservations are requested as the
tours do sell out. No strollers.
$8 for Adults, $5 for Children 4-17, and 1
cent for Children 3 and under.
We also offer Private Historic Tours of
Naperville at any time by reservation. One hour group tour (32 passenger) is $250, and one
hour group tour (21 passenger) is $200.
SCHEDULE:
Thursday, May 8 at 6pm
Mother's Day! Sunday, May 11th at
noon AND1:30pm
Friday, May 16, at 11am.
Thursday, May 22, at 6pm.
Thursday, May 29 at 6pm.
June, July, and August - EVERY Friday at 11:00 a.m.
YOU WANTED TO KNOW...:
ANSWERS TO COMMON NAPERVILLE QUESTIONS
Q: Where does the name "Paw Paw"
come from?
A: The Paw Paw Post Office was at the NE corner of Webster and Jefferson streets. Not only
was it a post office and general supply store, you could also catch the stage coach there,
one day heading east, the next day heading west. (The original building has been moved to
the grounds of Naper Settlement.) Paw Paw is named after a grove of Paw Paw trees. The Paw
Paw fruit resembles a mango. It was referred to as "the Midwest mango". A grove
of Paw Paw trees was at that location of Jefferson and Webster streets. The native
Americans used the seeds and ate the fruit. It was discovered that there was a town a few
hours from here named Paw Paw, so they discontinued the name of Paw Paw Post Office so
there would be no confusion, as this was "Naperville" with a post office called
"Paw Paw"!
Q: What rank is Naperville in terms of city
size?
A: Naperville is #4. #1 is Chicago, #2 is Aurora, #3 is Rockford.
Q: What was Capt. Naper's origin prior to
Ohio?
A: Joe Naper was born in Bennington, Vermont and was raised in Ashtabula, OH.
He was the son of a ship carpenter, and himself became a merchant seaman and
captain of ships on the Great Lakes.
Q: How much was the Plank Road toll and how
far would that get you?
A: According to a toll rate sheet dated Dec 18, 1847, it establishes the toll
rate to be a charge on the plank road in DuPage County "to intersect with the
other Plank Causeways contemplated to be built in Cook and Kane County" - thus
these rates in effect took you to the county dividing lines to the east and west
sides.
The following are tolls for people heading EAST to Cook County/Chicago:
The following are tolls for people heading
WEST to Kane County (today we'd say
more Will County):
Wagon and 2 horses - 18 3/4 cents
Post coach and 4 horses - 25 cents
Horse - 5 cents
Head of cattle - 2 cents
1 hog or sheep - 1 ½ cents
Q: Was Plank Road the first tollway in the
U.S.?
A: No. The first major toll road in the US was in Pennsylvania - the Lancaster
Turnpike between Philadelphia and Lancaster. It was built in the 1790s. Not
sure what road surface was originally used (dirt, plank, etc.) As a side note,
Plank or corduroy roads were common to the northern states and Canada - I
believe it may have been a practice first started by the French. There was a
ready lumber supply, and I believe in the late 1700s they actually used logs,
later using planks after they had saw mills available to mill the lumber.
Q: What kind of tree's surround the dandelion
fountain?
A: Japanese Tree Lilacs
Q: How many acres does the Park District have?
A: Approximately 2,400 acres. That's it.
Q: How many gallons of water does Centennial
Beach hold?
A: Approximately 6.2 million gallons. The beach is drained each spring and filled with
fresh water in April.
Q: Who is the artist of the red sculpture on
the Riverwalk by Jackson/Eagle?
A: Jack Arnold from Glen Ellyn, IL. It was fabricated at Cadillac Tank and Metal
Fabricators in Addison. It was set in place on July 13, 1984, and dedicated on September
9, 1984.
Q: Why is there a DRAGON on the map of the
city that is on the ground outside of Nichols Library (SE corner)?
A: The 1800-some acres of land known today as Spring brook Prairie, located off
Plainfield-Naperville Road, was called Dragon Lake until the mid-nineties. The site was
intended to feature a 200-acre dragon-shaped lake with a swim beach and campgrounds. The
Forest Preserve District formulated this plan as a means of reducing the impact of
flooding; the prairie was going to be used to quarry stone and collect sewer water.
In the mid-nineties, an environmentalist and
conservationist group called SOAR, dedicated to preserving populations of rare birds of
prey, conducted a six-month roadside survey and found the prairie had become home to
endangered-species raptors. It had become a habitat for many grassland bird species as
well. At this point, development plans were abandoned and the site formerly known as
Dragon Lake was renamed Springbrook Prairie Preserve.
Check back here often to get answers to questions about
Naperville that you or others have asked during the Trolley Tours.
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