The village was laid out and platted by O. P. Johnson, Damas L. Harris, and Reubin N. Weeds in August, 1872, on lands adjoining the right of way of the Chicago & Rock River Railroad. The first building to be erected was a combined general store and post office by H. H. Carnahan on the lot where in 1975, postmaster, Herbert Danekas, lived.

As nearly as can be determined, the Wigum Hotel was the second building erected and stood where Jerome O'Sadnick's home is. Other businesses soon followed and we had a shoe repair shop, a livery stable, blacksmith shop, tile factory, two churches, two grain elevators, a doctor's office, wagon and buggy repair shop, a bank, and the village pumping station.

Also, not wanted, and a thorn in the side of the county law enforcement officers was a Richelieu located between the livery stable and the pumping station. The kegs were hauled here in wagons from the brewery in LaSalle, then tapped and left underneath a tree for public consumption. No one was around to watch and each man who imbibed was supposed to place a nickel on the barrelhead, which some failed to do. Our residents were not deliberately trying to avoid the law, but without an incorporated village to issue dram licenses, it had to be handled that way.

The reason the village could not become incorporated was because of lack of citizens required. To overcome this, the proposed village limits were extended several miles in each direction which did the trick, and as soon as the required population was realized, the boundaries were moved back as before. So in order to get a state charter an election was held in the one room schoolhouse on October 29, 1894, with these results: Henry F. Gehant, President; Harry L. Fordham, Clerk; O. P. Johnson, Isaac Cook, William. Halbmaier, Fred Erbes, Martin Gruss, and David O. Fairchild, Trustees. Sam Derr was chosen as Treasurer and Eugene Pye, Constable. A combination village hall and jail was needed, so Eugene Pye contracted the job for $293.

The building of the two churches was a community project, and regardless of one's faith, he donated his time and talents to each church as needed. The Methodist church was built first and two years afterward, the Catholic church followed, using the same laborers and plans in each instance. The heavy stringers used underneath the two edifices were hand-fashioned in the timber and "snaked" overland to the sites.

Fires played a very disastrous part in the growing village: two elevators, a creamery, hardware and implement shop, the Catholic church and a number of residences were consumed. That is why the W. B. Volunteer Fire Department was organized following the elevator fire about 1905. Herman Knauer built the ladder wagon and the hose cart; the former was pulled by four men, while the latter was a six-man job. Two 20 ft. ladders, 300 ft. of hose and two different type nozzles made up the equipment, but the main ingredient was a unit of twenty brave men. Unless the fires were discovered early, the building was doomed, either because of lack of water or equipment. Today, the village is the center of a Fire Protection District with a new fire house, three modern fire trucks, a tank wagon and a van carrying the emergency and life-saving equipment, and twenty-five well-trained men with modern radio equipment in the station and on the trucks.

Our industries and businesses are operated by courteous and capable men and women. The prime example is the H. F. Gehant Banking Company, operated since 1897, with 10 employees and deposits of $8,000,000, with all modern bookkeeping machines, etc. Next is the W. B. Farmers Co-op Company, capitalized at $25,000, and operating two fertilizer manufacturing plants along with the regular grain, feed, and seed. They employ six people and do a $5,000,000 yearly business. We have two taverns, each with lunch counters, a barbershop, a modern post office, Hornung Tiling Company, Bodmer Sanitary Service, Sands Printing, Wilhelm's Limestone Company, Jones Trucking, Tire Repair shop, etc.

The present village board consists of John Gehant, President; Lynn O'Sadnick, Treasurer; Justin Corcoran, Dennis Jones, Dale Mellot, William Bodmer, Larry Eddy, and Gerald Hornung, Trustees; and Patricia Jones, Village Clerk.

West Brooklyn is indeed a nice place to work, grow, and live.

(Written by Henry W. Gehant in 1975)

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