The Lombard region, which was once part of the Potawatomi Native American landscape, was first colonized by Americans of European descent in the 1830s. Lombard recalls his early days in Glen Ellyn. Ralph and Morgan Babcock established themselves in a grove beside the DuPage River. Lombard flows east while Glen Ellyn travels west through Babcock’s Grove. A stagecoach line that stopped at Stacy’s Tavern and St. Charles Road in Geneva connected Babcock Grove to Chicago in 1837. Farmers were drawn to the area by fertile land, the DuPage River, and abundant timber.
Sheldon and Harriet Peck moved from Onondaga, New York to the region in 1837 and cultivated 80 acres (320,000 square meters). Peck was also an artist and original portraitist who frequently traveled to northeastern Illinois to see clients. The Lombard Historical Society renovated Peck’s mansion, which was also the area’s first school. Peck House was included to the National Park Service’s list of Liberty Network – Verified Underground Railroad Sites in 2011.
The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, which opened in 1848, drew area farmers and businessmen into Chicago by rail, and commercial buildings quickly came up around the station. Lombard was formed in 1869 and named after Chicago financier and real estate developer Josiah Lewis Lombard.