Prior to the arrival of white settlers in the 1830s, Naperville was home indigenous people for over 8,000 years. In 1673, the Illiniwek Indians greeted French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet. By 1800, Pottawatomi Indian villages stood where Naperville and Brookdale are now.
The land eventually became the home to the Drendel/Getz, Erhart/Redfield, Keller and McDowell families' cattle farms whose children attended a one-room schoolhouse. The Getz home still stands on River Road, just east of the entrance to the Brookdale subdivision where Raymond Road, River Road and Brookdale Road intersect. The Flynn-Lauth farm, which was located between North Aurora Road and Brookdale Road and between Tudor Drive and Hinterlong Lane/Small Court, was later developed and included in the Brookdale subdivision.
When Brookdale was annexed to the City of Naperville, construction of the 882 single-family homes in the Brookdale subdivison began in 1975. The developers of Brookdale were Oliver Hoffman Corp. and Macom Corp., along with Clyde Savings.
Indian Prairie School District 204 refers to the tall grass prairie and the native ecosystem that provided fertile farmland to area pioneers. Our neighborhood's high school, Metea Valley High School, was named after the chief of a nearby Indian village, Chief Metea.
Brookdale honors the legacy of these early residents by fostering a strong community spirit that reflects the open, neighborly quality of an American farm community and the caring interdependence of an Indian tribe.
Brookdale Chronology
| 1975 |
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Waubonsie Valley High School opened
Construction of the first Brookdale homes begin |
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| 1976 |
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First Brookdale residents move into their homes
Children from Brookdale attended Indian Plains School on Eola Rd. |
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| 1978 |
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BHA formed
Brookdale Racquet Club opened
Brookdale Fourth of July Parade begins |
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| 1981 |
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BHA enters a float in Naperville’s Sesquicentennial Parade
(Naperville population: 40,000)
Hill Middle School opened
Brookdale’s holiday outdoor decorating contest begins |
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| 1984 |
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River Glen Presbyterian Church built and opened |
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| 1985 |
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Brookdale Elementary School opened |
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| 1986 |
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St. Thomas the Apostle Church built and opened |
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| 1989 |
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St. Patrick’s Residence built and opened to residents |
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| 1995 |
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Tabor Hills built and opened to residents |
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| 1997 |
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Riverbrook Center (Dominick’s) built |
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| 2006 |
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BHA enters a float in Naperville’s 175th Anniversary Parade
(Naperville population: 132,000) |
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| 2008 |
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School District 204 approves building 3rd high school Metea Valley
On Eola Road near Diehl. Brookdale kids will switch from Waubonsie Valley to the new school when it opens in 2009. |
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| 2009 |
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Metea Valley High School opens for Freshmen and Sophomores |
