• Editor’s Note: This article is part of a weekly series on Kane County’s amazing history. Today’s article was written by Batavia Depot Museum Executive Director Jennifer Putzier. All photos courtesy of Batavia Depot Museum.
  

1880s roller skating illustration. (Not of Batavia, IL.)

In the 1880s, the roller skating craze hit Batavia.

The modern roller skate, called the “quad skate” because each foot has four wheels set in two side-by-side pairs, was invented in 1863 by Joseph Plimpton in New York. This new design allowed skaters much more flexibility in movement and became an instant success.

As the invention made its way west, skating rinks popped up to accommodate skaters who likely didn’t have access to paved roads or sidewalks.

In 1883, J. H. Fenton of Chicago rented Batavia’s Music Hall to outfit it for roller skating. The newly built Music Hall, which opened for business Oct. 29, 1880, boasted a seating capacity of 575 patrons and a convenient first floor auditorium, one of the first in the Fox Valley.

When not being used for lectures, plays or balls, it was an ideal space to skate.

The Music Hall still stands and is at 10 Shumway Ave., just south of Wilson Street.

It’s uncertain if the interest in roller skates had already hit Bennett Kindblade, or the close proximity of the Music-Hall-turned-skating-rink to his shop on the corner of Wilson and Shumway piqued his interest, but he began to sell, manufacture, and improve roller skates.

Bennet Skate factory at Wilson and Shumway (which was at that time called Mechanic) 1885.

Kindblade immigrated to America from Sweden and came to the Fox River Valley in 1852. He spent the first 20 years in Geneva, then moved to Batavia. He was a skilled craftsman and mechanic; he was mentioned in The Past and Present of Kane County (1878) as “B. Kindblade — who will make anything from a cambric needle to an electric engine or piano-forte.”

A jack of all trades, Kindblade dabbled in what interested him. In Geneva, he set up shop as a photographer. In Batavia, he was known as a cabinet maker, a cigar maker, an instrument maker and manufacturer of sporting goods. If there was a niche, Kindblade seemed to fill it.

In 1884, Bennett Kindblade patented his invention of converting ice skates to roller skates (patent number US299799A).

By 1885, he was fully immersed in the business of roller skating. He had converted his shop into a roller skate making factory, and operated his own roller skating rink just east of the old Chicago and Northwestern Passenger Depot at Wilson and Water Streets.

The Kindblade Roller Rink was in an old warehouse and was tucked behind a candy shop and restaurant on Wilson.

Sanborn map showing Kindblade’s Roller Rink north of the corner of Wilson and Water, 1885.

As it has done many times over the last 150 years, the roller skating craze died down. By 1891, Kindblade’s Roller Rink was turned into a “Paint Shop” and by 1907 it had been torn down, leaving a vacant lot.

Kindblade’s roller skate factory on the corner of Wilson and Shumway was simply listed as a “variety” shop in 1891, and he became known for manufacturing bows, arrows and violins.

In 1900, at the venerable age of 80, Kindblade returned to Sweden. There, he earned accolades for his violins, as his obituary states:

“As an acknowledgement to his (violin making) abilities, he was given a title from one of the Monarchs, King Oscar of Sweden.”

His interest in making violins defined the end of his long and varied career. He died in Sweden at the age of 91 on Jan. 30, 1910.

Photo of the Chicago and Northwestern Train Depot and warehouse that Kindblade had his roller rink in, unknown date.

About the Batavia Depot Museum

The Batavia Depot Museum opened in 1975 as a partnership between the Batavia Park District and the Batavia Historical Society. The Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad Depot was the first of its kind built in 1854, and is recognized on the National Register of Historic Places.

Inside, the city’s past comes alive through exhibits detailing the history of rail transportation, manufacture of windmills, agriculture, banking, commerce and a brief stay by Mary Todd Lincoln at Bellevue Place.

Open seasonally, March through November. Hours are 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Read The Kane County History Series!

• 1850-1925 Geneva — When Penmanship Was Mightier Than The Sword
• St. Charles Museum Site — From Serving Gas To Preserving History
• Elgin Puts 3,500 Priceless Photos Online
• Batavia-Inspired Miniatures Thrilled a Nation
• Aurora’s Maud Powell, World Famous Violinist
• Waxing Nostalgic on Geneva’s WGSB, WFXW
• American Doughboys of WWI — in St. Charles, IL
• Experience High-Tech History at April 21 ‘Open Elgin’ Event
• Batavia, IL — ‘Windmill Capital of The World’
• Meet Andy Aurora, Man About Town
• Celebrating The 50th Anniversary of 9-1-1 in Geneva
• Blue Goose And Evergreen Pub — ‘Shop Local’ 90 Years In The Making
• Elgin Is The Apple of Illinois Bicentennial’s Eye
• Nordens Soner And Batavia’s Swedish Society
• Aurora’s Melting Pot ‘Yearning To Breathe Free’
• Candles, Timing Devices, Phonographs And The ‘Life Cup’ — All Things Made in Geneva
• Hotel Baker, The ‘Masterpiece’ of The Fox Valley
• Elgin Celebrates Our Once-Burgeoning Dairy Business
• Reflections of Batavia’s Quarry Beach Pool
• Aurora’s Mabel O’Donnell, Author of “Alice And Jerry’ Books
• As Alice (Davis) Says, ‘Schools Out For Summer!’
• Elgin Watches, ‘The World’s Standard’
• Aurora Silverplate a Symbol of Good Taste
• Women Leaders Played Huge Roles in Geneva
• Nationally Renowned Summer Camp in St. Charles
• The Harrowing Story of William Lynch, Elgin’s Civil War Brigadier General
• Batavia Powered The Aurora, Elgin & Chicago Railway
• Corsets Doing Big Business in Aurora? Scandalous!
• One Block of Geneva Tells 1,001 Fantastic Stories
• St. Charles’ Evergreen Pub — The ‘Before’ Photos
• 1917-18 — When Elgin Artists Went to War
• Thomas Cleveland — Batavia’s Presidential Connection
• Do Your Wurst — Aurora Meat Markets Are ‘In’ Again
• Geneva Is The Place For Graveyards And Ghosts
• Visit Amelia Anderson At St. Charles’ North Side Cemetery
• Calling All Artists! … For a Cobblestone Reflection in Elgin
• Batavia’s 108-Year-Old Gazebo Still Lights The Way
• The Compelling, Tragic Story of Aurora’s Black WWI Hero Frank Boger
• Geneva History Museum Invites Artists To Celebrate Cultural Heritage
• Elgin’s Anson Clark Soared in The Great War … And Life
• What It Meant To Be a Patrol Boy and Louise White School
• ‘Men’s Night’ Christmas Shopping Was a 1950’s Aurora Phenomenon
• St. Charles Remembers Colson’s Christmas-Day Fire of ’33
• The Art of Elgin’s Cobblestone Reflections
• When Suffrage Met Prohibition in Batavia
• Geneva Presents The Art of The Fox River
• Blansford Astronomical Clock Is Aurora’s Treasure
• St. Charles Returns Family Heirlooms From WWII
• Museum Lands Painting By Elgin Artist Albert Kenney
• Cars Still Fixed at Historic Location in Downtown Batavia
• A Bird’s-Eye View of 19th Century Geneva
• Sheldon Peck: Kane County’s Connection To The Underground Railroad
• Elgin High School Celebrates 150 Years of ‘Education For All’