SWAN History
The SWAN area of Elgin is rich in history. Originally settled in 1835 by Joseph Kimball, much of the SWAN neighborhood was the Kimball family’s farm and apple orchard. Real development didn’t begin until 1870, when the National Street bridge opened, enabling employees of the Elgin National Watch Company to build homes directly across the river from the factory. By 1892, there were more than 250 homes in the neighborhood, south of Walnut Street.
Since many of the early watch factory employees were German, the neighborhood was known as “Dutch Flats,” a mis-translation of “Deutsche” and a reference to the relatively flat land atop the west side hill. Many Scandinavians also filled the neighborhood.
The first public school on the west side opened as Oak Street School in 1889. Renamed in 1913 to Lowrie School, this school still educates SWAN children.
Many of the street names in the SWAN area derive from the George P. Lord family. Lord was the watch factory’s business manager from 1866 to 1872 and owned a home on what is now South State Street (IL Route 31), as well as much of the surrounding area.
Read more SWAN history in E. C. “Mike” Alft’s January 26, 2008 Elgin Courier News article: swan history