Photo gallery: A history of Glendale Heights

Oct. 28, 1968: Broken windows are but one example of the vandalism that has plagued the construction of the Glenside Junior High School in Glendale Heights. More than $20,000 in damage was done to the school at Fullerton and Bloomingdale roads, and the opening was delayed from September to January. (Tribune Archive photo / Chicago Tribune)

Chicago Tribune

Dec. 19, 2013 3:11 PM PT

Incorporated in 1959, Glendale Heights has grown from a rural town of just 104 residents to a large community of more than 34,500. Its name was derived from neighboring towns Glen Ellyn and Bloomingdale, while “Heights” signifies the village’s varying land elevations. Glendale Heights elected DuPage county’s first Asian mayor, and was the childhood home of Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.

March 26, 1970: A group of Glendale Heights mothers take issue with the drainage ditch on Armitage Road, citing its danger to the health and safety of the community, as well as it being an eye-sore. (Quentin Dodt / Chicago Tribune)

Sept. 24, 1972: In August, the ditch was responsible for the death of an 11-year-old boy who was swept up by the current while playing. Residents presented petitions with 1,700 signatures to the village board demanding the ditch be covered, but were told by officials that the petitions were not in correct form. The issue was not resolved until 1998, when work began to cover the ditch. (Tribune Archive photo / Chicago Tribune)

May 22, 1973: Teachers of the Queen Bee School go on strike for higher salaries. On this day, the school board fired 82 teachers after they refused the latest pay raise offer. Parents circulated petitions demanding the resignations of the board. Schools remained open during the strike with the help of substitutes, though attendance dropped 50 percent. (Hardy Wieting / Chicago Tribune)

June 28, 1973: Bike trails and riders are visible through the spokes of a bicycle at a play area near the Little Cal in Glendale Heights. (Hardy Wieting / Chicago Tribune)

Nov. 3, 1983: One of the rooms at the S.H.A.R.E. (Start Here Alcohol Rehabilitation and Education) center in Glendale Heights, which director James Browning says is “130 percent occupied.” The 30-bed facility was the only publicly funded social detoxification and rehabilitation center for residents of DuPage County and western Cook County. (George Thompson / Chicago Tribune)

March 21, 1984: Fog shrouds students on their way to Glenside Junior High School during spring’s first hours. Forecasters predicted unseasonably cold temperatures for the next two days. (George Thompson / Chicago Tribune)

March 1, 1987: Tom Hall of the Environmental Protection Agency explains his findings to Walter Thomas, who holds daughter Jessica, 7, a student at Queen Bee School. Officials determined that asbestos found at the school was not a threat. (Walter Neal / Chicago Tribune)

April 19, 1988: Firefighters and DuPage County Sheriff’s officers remove the last of three victims found shot to death in a Glendale Heights house fire. John Greer, 42, shot his estranged wife and her father before setting his house on fire and taking his own life. Police said Greer and his wife were in the middle of a divorce, and that the attack was planned. (George Thompson / Chicago Tribune)

Feb. 15, 1989: Suzanne Canfield of Glendale Heights Community Hospital’s new child care center checks three-year-old Stephanie’s temperature. (Michael Budrys / Chicago Tribune)

May 2, 1989: Portraying Wilbur Wright, actor Mark Grimish provides pupils at Glen Hill School in Glendale Heights with some insights into the beginnings of aviation in the play, “Miracle at Kitty Hawk.” (Mario Petitti / Chicago Tribune)

Oct. 24, 1989: Traffic comes to a near standstill as a road crew begins clean-up work on Bloomingdale Road in Glendale Heights. The road was dug up to lay a new water line. (Mario Petitti / Chicago Tribune)

April 7, 1991: Pam Gallagher, a PADS administrative assistant and a surivor of homelessness, dines with sons Reed, Randy, Rory and Ryan during a free dinner at the Capriccio restaurant for residents of PADS. (Tribune Archive photo / Chicago Tribune)

May 15, 1991: Ron Muehlfelt, owner of Muehlfelt and Sons House Moving, directs his workers as they put a caboose in place at the “Safety Village” being built at the Glendale Heights Village Hall, 300 E. Fullerton Ave. (Eduardo Contreras / Chicago Tribune)

Sept. 1, 1991: Naturalist Reute Butler shows kids in Glendale Heights a South American kinkajou as part of an event with Jim Fowler, the host of “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” (Matt Marton / Chicago Tribune)