The Way We Were: Downtown cigar store/factory once employed 22 men

William Knoch stands in front of his cigar store at 42 W. Jefferson Ave. in downtown Naperville circa 1920. Knoch and his brother, George, launched their cigar-making factory and store in 1901, according to Naperville Heritage Society records. William would later buy out his brother and kept the business going until 1931. The building’s two back rooms were used to dry tobacco and make cigars and, at its peak, employed 22 men.