Every week we publish a historic photo highlighting a story from Naperville’s past from the history archives of Naper Settlement.
Eli Stark, one of the more successful businessmen in Naperville during the first half of the 20th century, can credit his start to a bicycle repair shop.
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Born Aug. 23, 1873, on a farm in Wheatland Township, Stark was just 15 when he moved to Wheaton to learn the printing trade from his uncle, Newton Matter.
The pair would begin publishing a newspaper called The Illinoisan in 1897, but it was business that became Stark’s true calling.
He launched his bicycle repair business in the late 1890s at 34 W. Jefferson Ave., now home to Naperville Running Company.
The popularity of bicycles boomed as the number of people with money and time to engage in leisure activities started to grow. They were particularly appealing to women, who liked that they could use them to expand their mobility and escape restrictions keeping them at the home.
This also resulted in an evolution in women’s clothing styles. Large skirts and bulky garments gave way to shorter skirts, bloomers and sports corsets, which were easier to wear when riding a bike.
During an economic depression in 1896, bicycle sales were one of the few parts of the economy that saw growth. And that helped Stark, whose bicycle repair shop did well.
It would be one of many ventures he pursued. In 1900, Stark bought Jake Saylor’s news route, moved his store and added games, candy and a newsstand.
Fifty-four years later in a newspaper story, Stark recalled: “We delivered newspapers to the outskirts of town with a horse and cart. Bernie Myers was the first newsboy in Naperville to deliver papers on a bicycle.”
In 1901, Stark bought Frank Rowe’s confectionery store, adding sporting goods and camera supplies along with fresh fruits shipped in daily from Chicago.
But it would be the ice cream parlor he introduced that proved the shop’s biggest boon, Stark recalled in the 1954 newspaper story.
“Our ice cream parlor was the main attraction of the store. We had a room in the back where we served the sodas and sundaes, and this became a hang-out for young people,” he said.
Stark’s shop was actually quite the trendsetter for the day. It was open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. Such late business hours were a rarity back then, as was being open on Sundays.
Ice cream was made in the store’s basement. He rented an ice house on Jackson to supply the ice needed for the process.
Stark’s wife, the former Linnie Wagner whom he married in 1897, prepared the fruits and most of the syrups used on sundaes.
Apparently not one to stand still when it came to business, Stark and a cousin, Herb Matter Sr., bought out Frank Rechenmacher’s general merchandise store in 1914.
Stark eventually bought out Matter’s interest, but the business failed in 1922.
As for those bicycles that got him started in his business career? Their popularity began to wane in the early 20th century with the advent of the automobile as the means to securing personal mobility and freedom.
So, it is probably no surprise that Stark started Naperville’s first taxicab company in 1923. At one point, he had seven cabs operating out of his son Byron’s garage.
The cab company proved quite successful. He ran it for 22 years until he retired in 1945 and sold it to Eddie Sims.
Linnie Stark died in 1949, but Eli would live on another 17 years. He died in 1966 at age 92 and is buried at Naperville Cemetery.
Andrea Field is the curator of history at Naper Settlement. For more information, go to www.NaperSettlement.org
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.Steve Metsch is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.