Check out the Photo gallery
for House Moving Action


>The house is now in its final location sitting over its new foundation waiting for some carpentry work and ready to be lowered onto its new foundation.


The 1846 Blodgett House was built by Israel and Avis Blodgett. Not only does the house have architectural historical significance as the second or third oldest house in the Village, but it also has great cultural significance as an active stopover point on the Underground Railroad. The Downers Grove Heritage Preservation Corporation has been founded with a mission to save and restore this historic house and create a museum focusing on the underground railroad. click here to learn more

Fundraising:
A big next step
Your contribution will be matched, dollar-for-dollar
The move and renovation of the 1846 Blodgett House is dependent on contributions from the community. In order to continue our progress, we need to continue fundraising efforts for exterior renovation.    Please help preserve our heritage by making a contribution now.   New individual contributions will now be doubled, dollar-for-dollar, through generous matching grants.
Donation button

Companies and builders can help with services
Companies can help with renovation of the Blodgett House by contributing materials and services. We need carpentry work, roofing, windows, painting, brickwork, landscaping, port-a-potty, exterior siding, and most of the other work you would expect on a construction project. Whether you contribute all or part of a job, labor, and or materials, you can make a huge difference. Click here to see our "In-kind wish list "

Historic House Returns "Home" thanks to
Philanthropic support
The move represents over a year of grass roots community efforts, governmental cooperation, and corporate support. Companies like Sara Lee, McDonald’s, Dicke Tool, One Smooth Stone, and many others, have made this historic move possible. Together they are helping to preserve a local and national treasure. Click here to see our Sponsors and how you can help

See the video
1846 Blodgett House
gets final positioning over footings

The historic 1846 Blodgett House has moved through adjacent backyards to its new home on the Historical Museum Campus in Downers Grove.  The house is now poised over its footings and ready to be placed on its new foundation facing Maple Avenue. The move was a balance of brute force, pulling the two-story house across 500 feet of ground, and finesse and technical skill, threading the structure between trees and positioning the house within inches of its target point.

Click here to see a
TIME-LAPSE_MOVIE.
           

Updated July 2, 2008

Heritage Concert:
A big success


The Heritage concert was a great success, Things went very smoothly, everyone had a great time, and, while the final figures are not yet in, we clearly raised a good deal of money to help with the exterior renovation. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen.

Volunteers wanted for
Blodgett projects

The next few months will be a busy time at the Blodgett house, and DGHPC will need all the help we can get. Exterior restoration are getting underway and there will be plenty of opportunity to help out.

To find out more and/or volunteer, drop an email to
volunteer@1846blodgetthouse.org