The old Copley Memorial Hospital served as an anchor for one of Aurora’s historic East Side neighborhoods for several generations. First established as a small building on South Lincoln Avenue in 1888, it expanded several times to occupy more than a square city block.
The facility closed in 1995, moved to its present Ogden Avenue location, and became known as Rush Copley Medical Center. The old campus was abandoned for more than two decades, but is currently undergoing a major renovation to become a multi-use facility. The redevelopment has been a cooperative effort among private developers, the East Aurora School District, the Fox Valley Park District and the city of Aurora.
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This is not a story about the old Copley, or about it’s long awaited redevelopment. Rather, it’s the story of old Copley’s southeast side neighborhood. It has stood the test of time as a safe and peaceful home for thousands of middle class working families. It is hoped that many current and former residents might enjoy a walk down memory lane, helped along by Fox Valley Park District Executive Director Jim Pilmer and the district’s Board of Commissioners.
At the development’s eastern edge, the Weston Avenue Park has already been opened. A new commitment by Pilmer and the park district’s board will be to include more storytelling within its parks. As part of that initiative, new interpretive panels will be installed in the park to commemorate the old Copley neighborhood.
The neighborhood is roughly bounded by Lincoln Avenue, North Avenue, Simms Street and Jackson Street. The park will display remembrances of the neighborhood’s multi-generational families, along with its houses of worship, schools and stores.
The remembrances of the neighborhood that follow come from the displays to be installed in the park.
Many families lived in the neighborhood for four generations, sometimes longer. Among them were the families of Betty and Jay McGraw, Alberta and Ron Lowry and Frances and Thomas Strong (my late parents). Each family included World War II and Vietnam War veterans, and the neighborhood grew as Baby Boomers were born. The families found it to be a safe and peaceful environment. They were able to buy groceries, attend church and school, and, in many cases, visit their grandparents without ever riding in a car. It was a wonderful place in time for those who grew up there.
Beginning in the late 19th century, churches of many Christian denominations were built in the neighborhood. Some were buildings of impressive stature for such a small neighborhood. The cornerstone of St. John United Church of Christ bears the year 1887, and its steeple is probably the tallest in the neighborhood. The Willard Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1891, built a small chapel near Marion Avenue and South Fourth Street in 1898. A larger structure was added in 1906, and it eventually became the Fourth Street United Methodist Church.
The Marion Avenue Baptist Church replaced a smaller building with an impressively tall structure in 1901. Along with Copley Hospital and Bardwell School, it towers over the neighborhood. Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church was built near Talma Street and Seventh Avenue in 1909. A new parish church was built on Fifth Street in 1952, and its melodious bell tower has rung throughout the neighborhood for generations. Emmanuel Lutheran Church on Jackson Street was formed in 1901, and its cornerstone was laid in 1902. It was dedicated in 1903, and was renovated in 1951. The current cornerstone bears that year.
As the city of Aurora and the Copley neighborhood grew, public and parochial schools were built to accommodate the growth. D.W. Young Elementary School was the first to be built in 1875 on Fifth Street, and stood for 81 years until a fire destroyed it in 1956. After Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish was established, its school opened in 1910 and occupied the upper floor of the church. It eventually occupied the entire old church, and a new building was added in 1962.
Emmanuel Lutheran built its school across the street from the church in 1916, and an addition was built in the 1960s. The school closed in 1990, and the building was recently sold.
C.M. Bardwell Elementary School, part of School District 131, was built in 1929. It is directly across the street from the old hospital, and is a very large and castle looking edifice. It still serves the neighborhood today. Almost all the kids of the Copley neighborhood walked or rode their bikes to school, with many going home for lunch every day.
The neighborhood afforded its moms and kids the chance to do grocery shopping close to home, but none of the stores remembered survive today. Only Piggly-Wiggly on Jackson Street (which later became Rusty’s) and Buy-Rite on Fourth Street were large enough to be called supermarkets. The smaller stores remembered included Allen’s, Abhalter’s, South Town, Millen’s, Buckley’s and Gemmer’s. Most storefronts are recognizable even through the passage of generations, and remind us of a time when a small neighborhood could be self-sufficient.
I asked Pilmer his thoughts about the park district’s involvement in the Copley redevelopment, and its decision to commemorate the neighborhood.
“The fabric of a neighborhood is the community that lives within it,” he said. “The new Weston Avenue Park is part of the redevelopment of a strong neighborhood. The entire project, including the park, should help to stabilize and revitalize a neighborhood. We are trying to build and keep safe, clean parks.”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.