| Stephen Scott, his wife Caroline and son Willard, were the first homesteaders to settle in
the Naperville area. They passed through a rough settlement of new families, Fort Dearborn, and
two stores called Chicago on their way to their homestead at the confluence of the east and west
branches of the DuPage River. Stephen had been an east coast seaman before heading west.
His son Willard earned the name "White Eagle" and the respect of the Pottowatomi tribesmen in
the area with his hunting skills. In 1831, the Scott family welcomed the Bailey
Hobsons, who
settled on the site of today's Pioneer Park, and Capt. Joseph Naper and his family and friends,
who settled in what is now part of "old Naperville". The Scotts and Hobsons helped the men of
Naper Settlement build Fort Payne with the assistance of cavalry sent to the village upon
notification of the danger of attack during the Blackhawk War scare. No shots were ever fired at
the fort, which occupied land now included in the North Central College campus (Fort Hill area on
the south side of Chicago Avenue).
Willard
Scott built the Naperville Hotel on Jefferson. Later, he built a mercantile store on
South Washington Street, and in 1854 began a private banking business. In 1867, he and his
family built the red brick Victorian home on the northwest corner of Franklin and Washington.
One of Willard Scott's five sons, Willard Jr., served as trustee, mayor and as the town's first
fire marshal during his lifetime. Scott School is the first property to be named for the pioneering
family, of which there are no known living descendants in Naperville.
The school emblem is a white eagle surrounding the school crest of items related to
Naperville history. The school colors are blue and white. |
