May Dates in Wheaton’s History

May

May 8, 1925
A grove of trees was planted on 10 acres of farmland purchased on North Main St in Wheaton by the Theosophical Society. “Over the years, many Society members bought parcels of land adjoining the estate, and donated them to expand the headquarters estate to its current dimension.” Today the property encompasses 41 acres

May 10, 1813
Birth of Orinda Gary in Pomfret, CT. She was the wife of Jesse Childs Wheaton and the sister of Erastus Gary.

May 10, 1956
Death of Ralph Lowrie Wheaton, grandson of Jesse Childs Wheaton, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was the president of the F. E. Wheaton & Company lumber firm, founded by his father, Emory Wheaton. He is buried at Wheaton Cemetery.

May 14, 1892
Death of Rev. Jonathan Blanchard, pastor, educator, social reformer, abolitionist, and President of Wheaton College, He died suddenly in Wheaton after a bout with influenza. He is buried at Wheaton Cemetery.

May 17, 1888
Death of Erastus Gary, one of the original founders of Wheaton, and father of Elbert Gary, namesake of Gary, Indiana. He is buried at Wheaton Cemetery,

May 21, 1860
Birth of Katherine Adams Wells, daughter of John Q. Adams, cousin of past president of the same name. She was the first librarian of Wheaton’s Public Library. Katherine donated Adams Park to the City of Wheaton upon her death in 1942.

May 25, 1925
The Grand Theatre, with 1,000 seats, opened in Wheaton. It hosted live drama, silent films, and vaudeville performances. In 2005, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Currently the Theatre is closed and under renovation.

May 28, 1922
Wheaton dedicated its “Road of Remembrance” to its WWI soldiers. Bronze plaques listing all 500 names of soldiers who enlisted from Wheaton were set on an obelisk placed in front of the Warren L. Wheaton home and an elm tree for each soldier was planted on Roosevelt Road.

May 28, 1981
Death of Garland “Gardie” or “Pinky” Grange, a professional American football player for the Chicago Bears from 1929 until 1931. Prior to his professional playing career, he played college football at the University of Illinois. He was the younger brother of, Illinois and Bears' star, Red Grange. In 1932 he served as the head coach for the independent St. Louis Veterans and Memphis Tigers.

May 30, 1895
Formal opening date of Chicago Golf Club at its Wheaton location.

May 31, 1913
The original Masonic Temple building designed by architect Eben Ezra Roberts was dedicated on this date.

May 31, 2015
Wheaton College changed the name of the J. Dennis Hastert Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy at Wheaton College and redesigned the center as the Wheaton College Center for Economics, Government, and Public Policy.

These dates were provided by the City of Wheaton Historic Commission. If you have any comments, corrections or additions to the list, please contact us at: wheatonhistoriccommission@gmail.com. Thank you!