At top is an artist’s rendering of the Gordon Van Tine Chatham home. Below it is the Sears Crescent home. Note the similarities between the Crescent and Chatham homes. (ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GENEVA HISTORY MUSEUM.)

• Editor’s Note: This article is part of a weekly series on Kane County’s amazing history. Today’s post is contributed by Terry Emma, director of the Geneva History Museum. All photos are courtesy of the Geneva History Museum.

Ordered by mail and sent by rail, catalog houses filled a need for sturdy, inexpensive and especially, modern homes — complete with conveniences of indoor plumbing and electricity.

Built in 1925, the Starlight, located at 721 Illinois Street, is just one of the Sears Catalog Homes located in Geneva.

All shipping was done by rail with boxcars full of labeled parts, consequently the largest concentrations of catalog houses are in the Northeast and Midwest, which were served by more rail lines.

Learn about Geneva’s catalog houses during the Geneva History Museum’s virtual program on Catalog Houses at noon Tuesday, Feb. 9.  Hear stories about these quaint homes designed by Sears Roebuck, Aladdin, Montgomery Ward, Gordon-Van Tine and Harris Brothers, and learn how to discover if a house came from a catalog.

Register today at GenevaHistoryMuseum.org to receive the link for this free Zoom program.

The Geneva History Museum remains closed to the public due to COVID-19 restrictions, but will continue to share these monthly virtual programs.  In honor of Women’s History Month, at noon March 9, the History Museum will share “HerStory” about remarkable women in Geneva’s history.

The Geneva History Museum is a nonprofit organization with a mission to share and preserve Geneva’s evolving story while inspiring and engaging the community.  For more information visit GenevaHistoryMuseum.org or call 630-232-4951.

Read The Kane County History Series!

• 1850-1925 Geneva — When Penmanship Was Mightier Than The Sword
• St. Charles Museum Site — From Serving Gas To Preserving History
• Elgin Puts 3,500 Priceless Photos Online
• Batavia-Inspired Miniatures Thrilled a Nation
• Aurora’s Maud Powell, World Famous Violinist
• Waxing Nostalgic on Geneva’s WGSB, WFXW
• American Doughboys of WWI — in St. Charles, IL
• Experience High-Tech History at April 21 ‘Open Elgin’ Event
• Batavia, IL — ‘Windmill Capital of The World’
• Meet Andy Aurora, Man About Town
• Celebrating The 50th Anniversary of 9-1-1 in Geneva
• Blue Goose And Evergreen Pub — ‘Shop Local’ 90 Years In The Making
• Elgin Is The Apple of Illinois Bicentennial’s Eye
• Nordens Soner And Batavia’s Swedish Society
• Aurora’s Melting Pot ‘Yearning To Breathe Free’
• Candles, Timing Devices, Phonographs And The ‘Life Cup’ — All Things Made in Geneva
• Hotel Baker, The ‘Masterpiece’ of The Fox Valley
• Elgin Celebrates Our Once-Burgeoning Dairy Business
• Reflections of Batavia’s Quarry Beach Pool
• Aurora’s Mabel O’Donnell, Author of “Alice And Jerry’ Books
• As Alice (Davis) Says, ‘Schools Out For Summer!’
• Elgin Watches, ‘The World’s Standard’
• Aurora Silverplate a Symbol of Good Taste
• Women Leaders Played Huge Roles in Geneva
• Nationally Renowned Summer Camp in St. Charles
• The Harrowing Story of William Lynch, Elgin’s Civil War Brigadier General
• Batavia Powered The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway
• Corsets Doing Big Business in Aurora? Scandalous!
• One Block of Geneva Tells 1,001 Fantastic Stories
• St. Charles’ Evergreen Pub — The ‘Before’ Photos
• 1917-18 — When Elgin Artists Went to War
• Thomas Cleveland — Batavia’s Presidential Connection
• Do Your Wurst — Aurora Meat Markets Are ‘In’ Again
• Geneva Is The Place For Graveyards And Ghosts
• Visit Amelia Anderson At St. Charles’ North Side Cemetery
• Calling All Artists! … For a Cobblestone Reflection in Elgin
• Batavia’s 108-Year-Old Gazebo Still Lights The Way
• The Compelling, Tragic Story of Aurora’s Black WWI Hero Frank Boger
• Geneva History Museum Invites Artists To Celebrate Cultural Heritage
• Elgin’s Anson Clark Soared in The Great War … And Life
• What It Meant To Be a Patrol Boy and Louise White School
• ‘Men’s Night’ Christmas Shopping Was a 1950’s Aurora Phenomenon
• St. Charles Remembers Colson’s Christmas-Day Fire of ’33
• The Art of Elgin’s Cobblestone Reflections
• When Suffrage Met Prohibition in Batavia
• Geneva Presents The Art of The Fox River
• Blansford Astronomical Clock Is Aurora’s Treasure
• St. Charles Returns Family Heirlooms From WWII
• Museum Lands Painting By Elgin Artist Albert Kenney
• Cars Still Fixed at Historic Location in Downtown Batavia
• A Bird’s-Eye View of 19th Century Geneva
• Sheldon Peck: Kane County’s Connection To The Underground Railroad
• Elgin High School Celebrates 150 Years of ‘Education For All’
• Batavia’s Incredible Roller Skating History
• The Fabled History of Jewelry Stores in Geneva
• Astonishing Buried Treasure Discovered in Aurora Outhouse
• Lincoln Elementary School in St. Charles Celebrates 90 Years of Education
• Remembering Elgin High Grad, Renowned Composer Daniel Brewbaker, 1951 – 2017
• Meet Batavia’s Sharron Moran, LPGA Star, ‘Most Beautiful Golfer’ of 1966
• The Many Iterations of Geneva’s National Food Store
• The Burlington Zephyr — A ‘Silver Streak’ Through Aurora
• What IS That Thing in Downtown St. Charles?
• 18 Events, Limited-Edition Poster For Preservation Month in Elgin!
• Julius Amandus Anderson’s WWI Memorial Trapunto Banner
• Geneva’s Swedish Days Celebrates Its 70th Anniversary
• The Historic Drive To Save Aurora’s GAR Hall
• The Story of St. Charles’ Paddlewheel Riverboats
• Meet Elgin’s Legendary Marshal — Andrew Barclay Spurling
• Jackie DeShannon ‘Put A Little Love’ In Batavia
• Aurora’s William S. Hart, Cowboy Movie Star
• St. Charles’ First Settlers, One Lost, Found Again
• Discover The Elgin Stories All Around You
• Batavia’s WWI French Connection
• Amazing Stories Behind Geneva’s Extraordinary Parks
• Roots Aurora Seeks 2019 Nominations For Aurora Cultural Champions
• Newly Renovated Thompson Middle School Retains Memories of St. Charles High
• Elgin’s Bluff City Cemetery Memorializes City’s Past
• Batavia Connection to 1969 Moon Landing
• Geneva Company Made Huge Contribution to Art Deco
• East Vs. West 1914 — Aurora’s Greatest Football Game
• North, Union Cemeteries Are St. Charles’ Hallowed Grounds 
• Elgin Temperance Crusaders Take Hatchet To Beer Fans
• Ever Heard of Clybourneville? (Hint: It’s Now in Batavia)
• Geneva Ghost Stories Rise From Former Hospital Site
• Aurora Tells The Cows To Shut Up
• Baby Face Nelson And 100 Years of St. Charles Boys School ‘Good, Bad And Ugly’
• Behold The Telegraph, Elgin’s First Digital Communication!
• Mary Bailey, Batavia’s Trailblazing Woman Lawyer
• Holiday Traditions, Historic Creche at Geneva History Museum
• Welcome To Thanksgiving Dinner at Aurora’s Tanner House
• St. Charles’ Whiskey Bend Signaled Boom Time For Taverns
• From Elgin Watch Cases To 4.2 Mortar Shells
• Lorraine James’ Art Leaves Lasting Impression on Batavia
• Geneva Remembers The Tornado of 1967
• New Year’s Calling in Aurora
• Newly Digitized Footage Documents Construction of St. Charles Municipal Building
• ‘New Year’s Calling’ in Aurora Was The Online Dating of Late 1800s
• A Woman’s Right To Vote — In Elgin
• How The Household Journal Came To Batavia
• Geneva’s East Side — From Dodson To Dog ‘N’ Suds
• On Leap Year, ‘She-Wolves of Aurora’ Have ‘Gender-Swapping Fun’
• Mary Todd Lincoln, Batavia Resident
• The Women Who Broke Codes at Riverbank Labs in Geneva
• Turn Around in Aurora And You’ll Bump Into a Luxembourger
• Geneva History Museum Offers COVID-19 Journal
• Aurora’s Amazing Family Portrait Exhibit ‘A Brilliant Idea’
• How St. Charles Survived The Spanish Flu in 1918
• Elgin Epidemics — COVID-19 Is Not The First To Bring Suffering, Sorrow
• Geneva Museum Passes Milestone
• Aurora’s African-American Police Officers
• Garner Family Is St. Charles’ Juneteenth Celebration Story
• Notable Black Americans From Elgin, IL
• Black Batavians Played Key Roles in History
• Geneva History Museum Reveals Archive Redesign
• Family Secrets — Historian Finds 1866 ‘I Love … ‘ Message Scratched in Tanner House Window
• Cut Glass Was Booming During Roaring 20s in St. Charles
• Elgin Remembers Devastating Palm Sunday 1920 Tornadoes
• Batavians Find Treasure in 150-Year-Old Privies
• Geneva Hosts Virtual Night at The Museum
• Visit Aurora’s Tanner House — With a Click of The Mouse
• Elgin Cemetery Walk Is Virtual Travel Through Time
• James Prindle Jr.’s Roll Top Desk Returns To Batavia
• 60 Years Ago, Kennedy Campaigned in Geneva
• Aurora’s 1894 Central Station Proud Home of Regional Fire Museum
• Meet The Doctors Who Helped Shape St. Charles
• Secret Symbolism in Elgin’s Bluff City Cemetery
• Meet The Doctors Who Shaped St. Charles’ History
• Batavia Inventor Paul Hassler And His Arithstyle Adding Machine
• The ‘Background’ on Geneva’s Famous Creche
• Aurora Soldier’s Diary Reveals Gripping Story of War, Love, Pain And Heroism
• St. Charles’ Delnor Hospital — A Thanksgiving Gift in 1940
• Meet Elgin’s Mary Muirhead of The WWI Army Nurse Corps
• Geneva’s Holiday Giving Tradition Continues Despite Pandemic
• Remembering The Days When Aurorans Cut Ice on The Fox River
• Arcada Plans Next Chapter of Its St. Charles Story
• Christmas Memories in Elgin
• A Brief History of The Batavia Historical Society

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