Westmont magician

About Westmont, IL

Westmont is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. Located approximately 18 miles (29 km) west of the Chicago Loop in the southeastern portion of DuPage County, Westmont is a community of 5.03 square miles in area with a 2020 population of 24,429. == History == The area known as Westmont earlier had been inhabited by the Potawatami. After several failed attempts by the U.S. government to persuade the Native Americans to move from the area, in 1833 they agreed under coercion to vacate their land for a nominal payment.The development of the Illinois-Michigan Canal, authorized by the State of Illinois in the 1820s but delayed in construction until the 1830s, contributed to Westmont's early growth. Many of the workers turned to farming when the economic panic of 1837 halted canal construction; agriculture became the major occupation with produce sold in nearby Chicago. The area around Westmont became one of the most prosperous sections of the state. In order to transport agricultural products into the city of Chicago, construction of a plank road from Chicago began in 1840. The path traversed the nine-mile (14 km) swamp between Chicago and the area that later became Westmont; it reached Naperville by 1851. Today, this path is known as Ogden Avenue (U.S. Route 34). The plank road soon became inadequate; in 1858, local incorporated towns and villages petitioned the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad to build a branch line from Aurora to Chicago that would pass through their towns.