Talk about a big fish in a little town. This 1924 aerial view of the Kroehler Manufacturing Co. in Naperville offers a snapshot of just how large the growing business had become since being founded as the Naperville Lounge Co. in 1893. Peter Kroehler took the helm in 1903 and would eventually change the company’s name to reflect his ownership in 1915, nine years before the main structure in this photo was built at 200 E. 5th Ave. Under his leadership, the business would go on to become one of the largest furniture manufacturers in the country, headquartered in what was then a very small Midwestern town. What remains of that building today is known as Fifth Avenue Station, a high-end apartment complex with business offices on the first level. In 1985, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Way We Were: Aerial view back when Kroehler Manufacturing was putting small-town Naperville on the map
