Stephen Startz, Sr. and his wife Anna were married in Austria in 1873. They immigrated to the United States in around 1890, moving first to Kangley, Illiinois, and then moving to Romeoville in 1893. They first lived on the east side of the I&M Canal; then moved to the west side of the canal. They would have seven children. Stephen, Sr. opened a bakery in part of his home, later changing his business to a bakery. He also served as village treasurer and as village clerk. Stephen, Sr. and Anna’s son, Joseph, was instrumental in securing the area during the small pox epidemic of 1904. He owned and operated the Island Hotel and Saloon, running a surrey from the streetcar line to the hotel. A second son, Peter, served in the United States Cavalry. He was employed by the Santa Fe Railroad as a telegrapher and depot agent in Romeoville. Peter married Myrtle Heeg. (See Heeg.) After a fire destroyed the Startz saloon and bakery, around 1920 Peter built a two-story tavern and hotel on 135th Street, on the east side of the I&M Canal. The tavern not only sold groceries, but it also had a gasoline pump to accommodate the increased number of cars. The rooms upstairs of the tavern were rented out to visiting hunters. Peter also organized a club for skeet shooting on weekends at his lodge on the backwaters of the Des Plaines River. Another of Stephen, Sr. and Anna’s sons, Anthony, was instrumental in organizing men and womens baseball teams, setting up beautiful fireworks displays in the baseball field on the Fourth of July. One of Anthony Startz’s daughters, Mildred (Millie) Startz Drdak, turned 90 years old in 2017! Throughout the years, the Startz family have contributed to Romeoville’s rich history and businesses. William (the youngest son of Anthony) and Wilma Startz were two of the founders of the Romeoville Area Historical Society.