If you've ever wondered what the corner of Washington and Main looked like before the development went up, or what Last Fling looked like when Naperville was still a town of 22,000, a new exhibition at North Central College has the answer on the wall.
"Robert Shoemaker's Images of the Naperville Community, 1975–1985" opened July 13 at the Oesterle Library Gallery, 320 E. School St., and runs through Sept. 25, according to the college's event listing. Admission is free, no registration required.
The show draws from more than 3,000 35mm color slides shot by Robert Shoemaker, a history professor at North Central College from 1960 to 1981 who also photographed for the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau. His camera captured Last Fling parades, the city's 1981 Sesquicentennial celebration, the 1978 blizzard, private homes, and everyday street scenes across a decade when Naperville's population nearly doubled.
The photos capture that shift.
City population data shows Naperville jumped from about 22,800 residents in 1970 to 42,300 by 1980. By 1985, the population had reached an estimated 60,000, and Naperville was called the fastest-growing community outside the Sun Belt. In that single year alone, more than 3,300 housing units were built, according to District 203 historical records.
Shoemaker's slides sat in the college archives for decades as part of the Caroline Shoemaker Memorial Collection, named for his late wife when the family donated the roughly 4,000-image trove in 1995. A 2025 digitization grant from the Illinois State Historical Records Advisory Board, funded through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the National Archives and Records Administration, brought many of the images online for the first time.
Kristina Maldre Jarosik, head of Archives and Special Collections at North Central College, curated the exhibition. She did not respond to a request for comment and can be reached at [email protected] or 630-637-5714.
A public reception is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the gallery. The exhibition is open during regular library hours; visitors should check library.noctrl.edu or call 630-637-5714 to confirm current hours before visiting.
Upcoming at the Oesterle Library Gallery
- Through Sept. 25 — "Robert Shoemaker's Images of the Naperville Community, 1975–1985." Oesterle Library Gallery, 320 E. School St., Naperville. Free, walk-in during library hours.
- Thursday, Aug. 20, 12:30–1:30 p.m. — Public reception for the exhibition. Same location. Free.
