The watch factory employed three generations of Elginites from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century, when it was the largest producer of fine watches in the United States (the factory ceased production in 1965 and was torn down in the summer of 1966) and the operator of the largest watchmaking complex in the world. The dairy industry became less important with the arrival of the Elgin Watch Company. Gail Borden established a condensed milk factory here in 1866, and the local library was named in his honor. Įarly Elgin achieved fame for the butter and dairy goods it sold to the city of Chicago. ![]() In April 1835, they established the city, naming it after the Scottish tune "Elgin". Looking for a site on the stagecoach route from Chicago to Galena, Illinois, they eventually settled on a spot where the Fox River could be bridged. Gifford and his brother Hezekiah Gifford heard tales of this area ripe for settlement, and they traveled west. Winfield Scott's army marched through the Fox River valley during the war, and accounts of the area's fertile soils and flowing springs soon filtered east. Thousands of militiamen and soldiers of Gen. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 and the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 led to the expulsion of the Native Americans who had settlements and burial mounds in the area and set the stage for the founding of Elgin. Further information: Spring-Douglas Historic District
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