In the name of progress and because of the increasing popularity of NIU, the city of DeKalb has been forever changed.

In the 1970s, the downtown area along Route 38 was the place where every Christmas gift could be purchased.

DeKalb was a more simple town then. DeKalb historian Steve Bigolin said the town was far less retail orientated. It was a city where factories like General Electric and the now defunct Wurlitzer company were very big local employers, Bigolin said.

In January, the DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State St., commemorated DeKalb’s centennial in 1956. A gallery gave onlookers a chance to view DeKalb as it once was through photographs and old newspapers.

The exhibit showcased the role immigrants have played in shaping DeKalb and some of the companies that have allowed the town to reach its current status.

City Planner Paul Rasmussen sees today’s DeKalb taking on the identity of its inhabitants – the college students.

Rasmussen said that the university and its inhabitants will be the mainstay of the community.

“I came to DeKalb 37 years ago to come to NIU,” Bigolin said. “What I remember about Sycamore Road in the 1970s was that it was no man’s land; there was next to nothing out there.”

DeKalb was a factory and agricultural based area 15 years ago, Bigolin said.

Today, the equation that makes up city of DeKalb must include a heavy dose of the retail and service sectors.

Bigolin said DeKalb originally was put on the map by the barbed wire industry.

Three men, Joseph Glidden, Isaac Ellwood and Jacob Haish, started the mass production of barbed wire in the 1870s that led to DeKalb assuming the nickname “Barb City.”

For the years following the barbed wire industry success, DeKalb remained close to its agricultural roots. The hybrid seed corn company now known as Monsanto allowed DeKalb to develop into one of the dominant agricultural centers in the Midwest.

“Jewel was the first shopping center that came to DeKalb in the mid- to late-1950s,” Bigolin said.

Since the Jewel strip, the entire Sycamore Road area has exploded to become the dominant shopping area for DeKalb.

With stores like Wal-Mart, Target and Borders, the strip along Route 23 has become the center for commerce, supplanting the old downtown area along Route 38.

“Downtown will have a more college orientation, and the Sycamore Road area will be more of a retail center,” Rasmussen said.

Rasmussen further elaborated by saying that he supported NIU President John Peters’ plan to make the traditional DeKalb downtown area more student oriented. He said that more small businesses will open in the downtown area with the specific aim of targeting college students.

“The real question is, is it a better community? … If you feel that homespun stuff is the most important, then something is lost,” Rasmussen said.