Name change for Elgin’s Crosby Street?

A block-long street named for an Elgin lawyer in the late 1800s may soon refer to a different history.

Elgin City Council members will hold a public hearing Wednesday to consider changing the name of Crosby Street, between Elm and Perry streets on the west side of the river, to Dominican Way. The new name would honor the sisters of St. Dominic who first staffed the faculty of St. Edward Catholic High School in 1941.

Councilman Richard Dunne said representatives of the high school contacted him about supporting an honorary name for Crosby Street.

“They wanted to do it to honor their 70th anniversary and the nuns that formed the school,” Dunne said.

As a firefighter, the potential confusion caused by honorary street names did not appeal to Dunne so he suggested looking into a permanent change.

David Siegenthaler is an employee of the Elgin Area Historical Society museum who researched Crosby Street after an inquiry regarding the name change.

Siegenthaler said Crosby Street is part of a piece of property originally owned and subdivided by Oliver Chisholm by 1882. Chisholm named the block-long street for his law partner Frank Crosby, who was born in Massachusetts but practiced in Elgin for at least 12 years.

Crosby is buried in Elgin’s Bluff City Cemetery, though he died in Chicago in 1898.

Siegenthaler said Crosby seemed like a worthy recipient of a street name but is not necessarily a well-known Elginite. He didn’t foresee any problems stemming from a name change.

“I don’t think there would be any kind of historical backlash from that,” Siegenthaler said.

There are only three properties along Crosby Street and two are owned by St. Edward. None of the three properties has a Crosby Street address.

The public hearing will be held during the council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers, 150 Dexter Court.