The essence of Geneva lies in the city's distinctive hometown quality and relaxed atmosphere. Visitors sense a slower pace and tender ambience that flourished even before Geneva was platted on May 3, 1837. Geneva, Illinois presents a remarkable portrait of the community's earliest beginnings and present-day charms. Geneva offers the vintage flavor of an historic city as well as the contemporary feel of a modern community. In this collection you will find early portraits of education, when lessons were taught in the dining room of a local hotel, along with scenes that celebrate the lush riverbanks upon which residents and guests have enjoyed picnics for more than a hundred years. From the flowers picked at Wheeler Park to the moving pictures of the Optigraph, from the wooden ice cabinets of 1884 to the sidewalk cafes of today, Geneva has flourished.