The Castle Drive Gates

These gates were reconstructed in August 1993 to coincide with celebration of centennial, and modeled after the school's original gates, torn down after falling into disrepair. The original gate[select here to see its picture] connected with an iron fence that stretched down to the Kishwaukee River. Colonel Ellwood of DeKalb furnished the needed funds to finish construction, and the workers completed the fence in 1899. The Chicago Tribune described it as a "real work of art . . . with posts at intervals of 200 feet . . . bear[ing] wrought iron candelabra for electric lights." The original main entrance had a double drive gate with two walk gates of ornamental wrought iron, with circular seats of stone along the base of the stone entrance. The fence had stone posts that were elaborately carved. One of those posts marked the place where Teddy Roosevelt spoke to more than 20,000 people on October 6, 1900. He spoke from a stand erected in the campus woods (later named the Montgomery Arboretum) as part of a Republican rally during his 1900 campaign as McKinley's running mate.