What to See in Elmhurst - Top Sights and Attractions

Garden in Elmhurst, Illinois. The Wilder Park Conservatory is a conservatory and botanical garden located in Wilder Park at 225 Prospect Avenue in Elmhurst, Illinois. Situated on a 6-acre lot, the conservatory shares the land with three greenhouses, the open air Elizabeth Gardens, and the Wilder mansion, which was the former location of the Elmhurst Public Library. An addition was added to the mansion in the 1960s to increase library space, but the addition was removed during a restoration which was completed in 2008.

The one-room Conservatory is open daily from 8am to 4pm; admittance is free, although donations are noted to be welcome. A mature Pachypodium and a tree Opuntia are the highlights. The conservatory also features a small pond with goldfish. Located nearby are the new Elmhurst Public Library, the Elmhurst Art Museum, and Elmhurst University's Schaible Science Center.

The conservatory's origins date back to 1868, when Seth Wadhams purchased a treeless farm, planting trees and building a greenhouse for his wife, which is still in use today. Subsequent owners (among them Aurelia King and her daughter-in-law, Louisa Boyd Yeomans King) continued to develop the site's gardens. The property was transferred to city ownership around 1920, and in 1923 the Elmhurst Park District Board added a conservatory to the original greenhouse. In 1926 a second greenhouse was added.^[1]

Redeemer Lutheran Church is a congregation of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod in Elmhurst, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago. Founded in 1928, there were 495 baptized members. Three of Redeemer's pastors held rather long tenures; Rev. Worth Setzer served for nearly 31 years, Rev. George Bornemann for 17 years, Rev. Richard Drews for 26 years. Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick served for 7 years. Moreso recently, Rev. Scott Stiegemeyer served at Redeemer for five years; the current pastor is Rev. Anthony Oliphant, who was installed in the autumn of 2015.

This church is designed in a reserved mixture of Gothic and Neo-Baroque styles, and possesses artwork covering a number of different movements, including medieval-style stained glass, carved wooden doors, and a contemporary piece representing the Holy Spirit which hangs in the northern transept.^[2]

Building in Elmhurst, Illinois. Hauptgebaude, also known as Old Main, was the predecessor to Elmhurst University in Elmhurst, Illinois. The three-story building was constructed in 1878 as a gymnasium style of school, reflecting the German heritage of the local residents. The new building allowed the school to increase its enrollment to 103 students in its first year. Classes in the Hauptgebaude were solely taught in German until 1917. In 1919, the school became accredited as a junior college. Starting in 1928, the school added additional buildings to the campus. The school began admitting female students in 1930, and received accreditation as a four-year college in 1934. Old Main functioned as the school's administration building until the 1950s. It was renovated in 1920 after a major fire, and again in 1976 and 1995. At one time or another, Old Main housed the science labs, the cafeteria, a pipe organ, and a Fumatorium where students in the early 1900s smoked, talked and played chess. Along with Irion Hall, Old Main even served as the library before Memorial Library was built. Old Main now houses faculty offices, art studios and general classrooms and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[3]