Witness to history: Reader shares memories of man who saw St. Charles bridge collapse in 1902

Local libraries and history museums are your best bets for finding local history information through various collections and displays.

But nothing beats hearing local history come from the mouth of a person who lived through or witnessed key historical events.

Reader Patricia Meierdirk of Campton Hills had the good fortune to hear about St. Charles history from a man she had nursed at Provena Geneva Care Center through much of the 1990s.

That man was Jim Nichols, who spent most of his life in St. Charles, until his passing at the care center in 1996 at age 102.

Meierdirk reached out to me, starting her note by saying she had seen my column a couple of months ago about the Main Street bridge in St. Charles collapsing in 1902.

“I knew a man who, as a child, witnessed the streetcar break through the Main Street bridge in the early 1900s,” Meierdirk wrote, noting Nichols was born in 1894, making him 8 or 9 years old when the bridge collapsed.

“He said his mother used to send him to the butcher shop on the other side of the river and she told him never to be on the bridge when the streetcar crossed,” she explained. “He heard it coming and ran to the other side and turned and watched it tip through. He said it was in rather slow motion and no one was injured.”

That eyewitness account lines up with information the St. Charles Historical Society provided regarding this unusual and tense event in the heart of St. Charles.

It wasn’t the only story Meierdirk heard from Nichols. She heard so many, it was both a blessing she’ll never forget, but also a regret.

“I wish I had written down all the stories he told me but never got around to that,” Meierdirk added. “He was an amazing guy.”

Meierdirk considered Nichols “a good friend as well as my patient.” Her interest in local history made it the perfect match for listening because “Jim had an excellent memory of his whole life in St. Charles.”

“He worked at the Elgin Watch Factory as a career but was also a photographer in the early days,” she added. “I have a few of his photos, but sadly he threw most of them away when he sold his house. He also bought cars and made them into hot rods, and had an Indian Motorcycle (company founded in 1901).”

Meierdirk’s recollections of her friend create the perfect example of the opportunity we have to listen to and ask questions of those older who have seen and experienced many interesting things.

It would be a much better use of time and social media space to share stories about grandmas and grandpas who have lived a full life, made it through many challenges and enjoyed many of life’s best celebrations.

Don’t wait. And write stuff down.

Meierdirk found it important enough to let me know about her friend Jim Nichols. And she was right to do so.

But she also was right in feeling she left something behind by not writing down those things that really sparked her interest in Jim.

Club’s history book in hand

Speaking of local history, a copy of the book I coauthored with Tim Triplett titled “No Lovelier Place Possible,” about the St. Charles Country Club’s 100th anniversary, is available at both the St. Charles Public Library and St. Charles History Museum.

At the history museum, it will be part of the research library and available for those interested to look through or read during a visit to the museum.

At the library, it will be part of the local history collection in the Carnegie Community Room, also for visitors to read at the library.

The book was published for the club and its members, but as information becomes available about how a book could be purchased, I will share that.

Phil had Peck of an idea

It’s interesting how often the words of former Kane County kingpin Phil Elfstrom of Batavia pop into my head when reading about current local news.

Elfstrom, who died in 2017 at the age of 88, was one of those local politicians who ruffled plenty of feathers but also delivered on some of the greatest ideas to unfold in central Kane County.

The Fabyan Parkway bridge, the Kane County Cougars and the network of bike trails along the Fox River were among Elfstrom’s most widely known ideas that became reality.

With his gravelly voice hard to forget, those of us who have been around a long time remember his other ideas, or at least input, on any number of topics in the region.

As both county board chairman and forest preserve district president, Elfstrom had a keen sense of what could enhance the quality of life in the Fox Valley. If you called him a visionary, it would be an accurate assessment.

His words came to mind again recently when reading about the Geneva City Council approving a townhouse development along Peck Road between Prairie View and Heartland Drives.

A point detractors brought up was traffic along Peck Road is already heavy and adding this development, with only a single entrance, opens the door for potential accidents.

So, let’s take a trip down memory lane, back to the late 1980s and early 1990s when county officials were discussing what to do with Peck Road, as it would certainly have to be extended south of Route 38 when a planned new Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles would open (it opened in October of 1993).

Though his idea didn’t win the day regarding Peck Road, Elfstrom made it clear if the county did not make Peck Road a four-lane thoroughfare, it would come back to haunt us years later.

It seemed like a crazy request back then to many, but growth west of the Tri-Cities has made it look like the best idea anyone could have put on the table.

You could possibly argue today that a four-lane Peck Road from Kaneville Road north to Route 38 would make it even more of a “raceway,” or that maybe there wasn’t enough room to do it.

Elfstrom’s idea was floated at a time when development hadn’t overrun most of the land east of Peck Road. He also couldn’t have known, but at least had the vision to consider, that a place called Mill Creek in Geneva would be built just west and produce plenty of drivers using Peck Road.

A senior transportation engineer consulting on the proposed development felt its traffic impact would be minimal, but did say this about Peck Road: “It is — sadly — a mini Randall Road.”

If Elfstrom’s idea had taken hold, at the very least, the drivers pulling out of subdivisions or new townhouse developments onto Peck Road would likely have an easier time.

Because it didn’t take hold, we’re left to just say, “Phil was right; this thing turned into a mini Randall Road, but now we’re stuck with only two lanes.”

An ode to ‘The Grinder’ and Thai

More than 30 years ago, I introduced my young son to the Italian meatball sandwich. Often, when there was a big football or basketball game to watch on TV on a Sunday, we turned to the meatball sandwich as our culinary choice.

Many of those sandwiches were from a place in St. Charles called Italian Dreams, at 615 S. Randall Road, tucked in the corner of that retail strip.

Our meatball sandwich of choice at Italian Dreams back then was called “The Grinder.”

Even though I grew up in an Italian family (my mother’s side) and ate more Italian sausage and meatballs than most anyone can imagine, I never thought much about whether the term “grinder” had any specific meaning with Italian fare. I just knew the sandwich was good.

A chef resource website tells me it is believed the term came from how much time Italian shipyard workers spent to put together their sandwiches at lunch, noting it was a “grind” to do so.

Others say it simply comes from the crunching sound the workers made in eating the hard Italian bread of their sandwiches, producing what most called a “grinding sound.”

For most of us, it’s all in a name, making a grinder no different from a submarine, po’boy or hoagie sandwich. Generally, they all hit the mark.

When driving past that location all these years, it was good to see Italian Dreams was still in business at that spot. Or maybe it had gone empty at some point.

For some reason, I glanced over when recently passing by and that restaurant location suddenly had become Thai Corner Cuisine. Well, not suddenly. The restaurant celebrated its first anniversary last month, and the employees tell me business has been good.

I enjoy Thai food, and it appears, based on early reviews, that this spot in St. Charles is a place Thai lovers can count on. The restaurant website notes it is not open on Tuesdays, and also closed each day from 3 to 4 p.m. weekdays.

The menu on the website should stir interest, whether you like Thai or not. The dish that caught my eye? Crab Fried Rice.

• dheun@sbcglobal.net