The Communities Within
from Devon to Fullerton,
the then existing lakefront to Western Avenue
Township 1857-1887
City 1887-1889
By act of the legislature in 1849, the counties in Illinois were directed to organize themselves into townships. Prior to that date, Cook County was under what was known in this state as county government that is, all affairs of the county were managed by a board of commissioners who supervised the community business of local groups of settlers who had not yet established a local government.
- Lake View Saga
The apparent communities as of 1862 were
Pine Grove, Andersonville, & Henrytown
Sectional Map View
of 1869
While this map does not show communites this map does indicate planned development of the former township
below the lower section
via David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
The communities mentioned in this map are Pine Grove, Ravenswood, Andersonville, and Henrytown.
Apparently the area was called Anderson Hoods where a lodging called 7 Mile House Tavern was once located when our area was located in Ridgeville Townhip (1850-1857). This first township of the area was in 1857 divided into South Evanston and Lake View townships. The '7 Mile' referred to the distance from the City of Chicago Court House to the tavern.
zoomed sections below
northern section
mid section above
with lower section below with ther red line
that indicated the border with Chicago at Fullerton Avenue
& the north branch of the Chicago River
The Township/City
Communities:
Lake View's form of government changed in 1887 to 1889 from a township to a city. All the communities list below were also
city communities.
The Community of
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"In 2013 winter caused irreparable damage to the original tank, which was made of wood and iron. The tank’s base cracked under a thick piece of ice, allowing water to leak directly into the museum. "The 'Polar Vortex' was too much for the water tower tank," said Abercrombie. "It damaged the wood and it wasn't safe and secure anymore." Although restorative work was completed on the tank just a few years ago, the average life span of water tanks built in the early 1900s is no more than 100 years. Because of this, museum officials are in the process of designing an alternative replica, which will not be a functioning water tower, but will serve as a neighborhood landmark and an ode to the neighborhood’s Swedish roots." - DNAinfo
dedication photos by Greg O'Neill
According to one urban legend the Andersonville may have been named after a Norwegian minister named John Anderson. Mr. Anderson purchase property just south of Foster Avenue east of Ashland Avenue in the late 1840’s. Apparently, one of the first schools in the township was Conrad Sulzer School (Ravenswood Elementary) the other, was named after Mr. Anderson simply called Andersonville School. This school once located on the southwest corner of Foster and Clark Street (1855-1925) served as a meeting place for early township civic leaders.
1883 map - center of map - Edgewater Buzz - thanks Bob!
'Surprisingly, an old map was uncovered by Edgewater’s own Thom Greene of Greene & Proppe Design, Inc. The map, circa 1883, will blow all conventional ideas of where Andersonville boundaries were back then. According to the document, Andersonville was located from Clark to Ravenswood and Foster to what appears to be Ainslie. This map shows that the original Andersonville did not include any land north of Foster, but that Andersonville must have grown into its present day boundaries after business’s along Clark Street in the 1960’s resurrected the Andersonville name to market the commercial area.' Read more about it!
'Andersonville was originally part of a much larger area, Lake View, a name that had been taken from a hotel on the shoreline. In 1857 Lake View was incorporated as a township. It had become a well organized community when it was annexed by Chicago in 1889 as the city was preparing for the World's Columbian Exposition. After the Great Fire of 1871, "Swedetown" on the near north side of Chicago lost its importance; and its residents started moving further north. Some settled in the Belmont-Sheffield area while others went further north to the Clark-Foster area. For quite a few of them, the Belmont-Sheffield sojourn was only an interlude before moving all the way north to Andersonville.' - North Park University
The township was envisioned by civic leaders
in this school
The old school had seen
better days by 1912
The Community of
This community should have been part
of the 77 community's of Chicago, in my humble opinion
*Ravenwood has its own post*
bordered on Lawrence (E. Jefferson) to the north
and Montrose (E. Sulzer) to the south; Clark to Lincoln Avenue with a section from Ravenswood to Clark south
to Irving Park Road once known as Graceland.
'The beautiful new homes with neat lawns were surrounded by open ditches and muddy streets. The Ravenswood Land Company did not build sewers or sidewalks and the neighboring Jefferson Township refused to allow any possible Ravenswood sewers to run through its land and into the Chicago River.' - their Chamber of Commerce
in 1929
1894 Sanborn Fire Map
five years after the annexation to Chicago
This book was written about the County of Cook by historician A.T.Andreas and mentions Ravenswood in it
Martin Van Allen, leader of the
Ravenswood Land Company
Ravenswood Land Company
By 1884 the Ravenswood Historical Society presently called the Ravenswood-Lake View Historical Association was established and was to be located in a 30 x 40 two story brick building on the southwest corner of Commercial and Graceland (Hermitage & Irving Park Road). Apparently, the building included a ground floor library and reading room and the top floor a lecture hall and doubled as a concert hall. The present collection of photography, maps, and publications are currently located at the Sulzer Regional Library in Community of Lincoln Square called the Northside Collection.
The photo above include the following:
Ravenswood M.E. Church, H. L. Harmount & Co. Real Estate Office, Bennett Block, Library Hall,
and All Saint's Episcopalian Church - 1890
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Views of late 19th Century
Ravenswood
This photo must have been taken from the
original Wilson-Ravenswood rail platform
Dr. Frank Van Allen (and family), a graduate of Lake View High School & Yale University Medical School.
His father, Martin Van Allen,
was a leader of the Ravenswood Land Company
in 1892
Ravenswood Station (Post ofc) Mail Carriers
in 1894
in 1894
Geographic Claims
The Community of Lincoln Square lays claim to parts of the original Ravenswood township/city community. Several other City of Chicago communities lay claim such as the Lake View, Uptown, and North Central. When the 77 communities of Chicago were proclaimed the old community of Ravenswood lost its vintage title as a official community. I believe the city missed an opportunity and part of its heritage.
The Ravenswood RR Station that was once along the
North Western & Chicago Railroad currently called the Metra
zoomed below
The Community of
Pine Grove
The community of Pine Grove's 'claim to fame' is the first resort/hotel in the area that double as a real estate mecca for the community - called Lake View House established in 1854. The name Lake View was so popular the name would be re-used for the new Township of Lake View. I have a separate post on Lake View House.
with Lake View House (hotel) highlighted just north of the Community of Pine Grove
text below - LakeView Saga 1837- 1985
Lake View House (Hotel)
The Community of
The following information and maps are primarily
from the Edgewater Historical Society
and History of Cook County by A.T. Andreas
Map - Edgewater Historical Society
In 1885, John Lewis Cochran (p. 769) purchased vacant land to build a subdivision called 'Edgewater'. East of Broadway and bounded by Bryn Mawr and Foster Avenues, this new community was the first planned development to have paved streets, electric lighting, drainage system, street cleaning and tree trimming.
sstation house 1905 - Daily News Archives
As of 1895
by The Edgewater Historical Society
Cochran - Wikipedia
'In 1885, John Lewis Cochran, a tobacco salesman for the McDowell Tobacco Company of Philadelphia began to purchase land along the lakeshore from Foster Avenue (once called 59th Street in the Township of Lake View) to Bryn Mawr, a street he named. This land west of what is now Sheridan Road was his first purchase and he named it Edgewater. He had a vision of a suburb much like the suburbs of Philadelphia that extended out from that city along a railroad called the Main Line. The train line that ran through Edgewater was the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul line. Cochran persuaded the railroad to open a station at Bryn Mawr which he had built of wood and stone in the Eastern Architectural style called Shingle Style. At the same time he built a large recreation and business building he called the Guild Hall in the same style. He had engaged an architect, Joseph Lyman Silsbee to design this and some houses which were built on Kenmore and Winthrop.'
1894 Sanborn Fire Map
This community was known for its horse stables and 'horse and cycle clubs' such as the Edgewater Stables.
The Community of
Summerdale
established 1875
1894 Sanborn Fire Map above
'Summerdale, named by the developers of 'Clybourn Addition' to community of Ravenswood, was located south of Foster and west of the RR tracks. The community's station was located just south of Farragut and originally on the west of the tracks' according to
Edgewater Historical Society. According to the same source, the origin of the name Summerdale is not known, but the son of one of the Edgewater developers thought it was chosen because it
"sounded pleasant".
Also, according to sources from the Edgewater Historical Society, "the community was described in 1904 as “…a sprawling area of 'truck gardens' (vegetables to market). The streets were all laid out and paved with macadam. There were even sidewalks, some of them concrete. But there was no gas, no electricity. From Rosehill Drive to Lawrence Avenue, there were no more than twenty buildings along Ashland Avenue.”
1900 photo - Ravenswood-Lake View Community Collection
Kids of Summerdale
photo 1888 - Sulzer Regional Library
The Area of
Wrightwood
also was known as Wrights Grove
& Wright Wood
The Home of Camp Fry
July 4th 1870
Mustering Camp for some
Illinois based Civil War regiments
photo via Stephen Osman
text below - Wikipedia
The Community of
1894 Sanborn Fire Map above
Graceland Avenue = Irving Park Road
map above - illustration from Lisa von Drehle
via Buena Park Neighbors Community-Facebook
via Buena Park Neighbors Community-Facebook
In 1887 James B. Waller, a long-time resident of the Township of Lake View began to sell of his property by subdividing his 35 acres to land speculators and developers.
The Buena House
The Waller home is now the site of St. Mary of the Lake Catholic church built and dedicated in 1917. Including in the 35 acres was a "pebbled crescent shaped beach" along the then existing lakefront per a Daily Tribune 1889 article.
Fry, Rowena, circa 1898-1990 - artist
artwork - Chicago History Museum
Buena Park and Robert Waller were amortized by Chicagoan poet Eugene Field in a 1894 ballet called
'The Delectable Ballad of the Waller Lot' ...
The poet's home was located in Waller's subdivided property near the intersection of Clarendon and Hutchinson Avenues near the historical Hutchinson Street District.
'Up yonder in Buena Park!
There is a famous spot,in legend and in history,
the Waller lot'
There is a famous spot,in legend and in history,
the Waller lot'
1887 Rascher's Atlas
of Waller Family home
of once Marine Hospital
photo - Ebay
This federal administered hospital was built in 1875 located between Graceland (Irving Park Road) and Sulzer Road (Montrose Avenue).
I have a separate post on this hospital.
Sulzer (Montrose) Avenue Beach - 1887
The intersection of Evanston (Broadway) Sheridan Road and Montrose Avenue - Lake View District 1891
front and back of same photo
and someone's back yard in 1907
Buena Park by 1910's - from Ebay
Articles
of Interest
Lincoln Park, the park
moves north in 1904
in 1985
photos - Art Institute of Chicago
photo - Uptown Update
Robert A. Waller (relation to James?) was a major landowner
who influenced township/city community affairs for decades
The Greenlee home along the lakefront
below - The Jenney Home
along the lakefront
A Llyod Wright designed home?
via Forgotten Chicago Discussion Group/Facebook
One of Many
Survivors of our Time
of Old Lake View:
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Community of
Argyle Park
The Argyle RR Station
once along the Evanston Branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul once known as the Evanston & Lake Superior RR
Community of
High Ridge
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
The Community of
HenryTown
1891 Rascher's Altas Map
northwest of Rosehill Cemetery
Once located on the edge of RoseHill Cemetery as early as 1862. The only reference I have for now is from 'History of Cook County, Illinois: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, 1884' of a resident named Lawrence Baer.
no mention of HenryTown in this
1887 Rascher's Altas Map
Community of
Rose Hill
the Seven Mile House was located in the Rose Hill area
This tavern/lodge was over seven miles from the Chicago's original Court House building
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text below - Chicago: its history & its builders
1894 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
An Editorial Piece
from 1880
How do I Spell it and from where?
This Community that
must be Mentioned ...
Bowmanville was then
located in Jefferson Township
The green represents Jefferson Township
while the yellow is Lake View
1905 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map
just west of Western Avenue and
south of Berwyn Avenue
a zoomed view below
This is one of the oldest communities to influence the old townships of Lake View and Jefferson. In fact, this community was founded in what was once Ridgeville Township (1850-1857). In 1857 that township was basically split in two. Western Avenue was the border of both Lake View & Jefferson townships with the community of Bowmanville located on the west side of Western until the annexation of both townships to the City of Chicago by 1889. Bowanville had enormonus influence over former townships by using Little Fort Road (Lincoln Avenue) as a route to their Chicago markets for their green house products.
Pre-European History
Re-discovered
"There aren't many accounts of the prehistoric connection to Chicago especially for the city's Bowmanville neighborhood but for decades, neighbors have known of the area's prehistoric legacy.
Read more ...
Bowmanville in Photos
The above aerial photograph showing farms, homes, streets, telephone poles, and open land where the L.A. Budlong Company, a first successful commercial greenhouse in Jefferson Township. The company at one time occupy 400 hundred acres of land. According the publication Hidden History of Ravenswood & Lake View by Patrick Butler "the workers were originally paid at the end of the day in silver dollars, known as 'Budlong Dollars' or simply 'Budlongs' ". Also, the book mentions that "by the turn of the 20th century, they had between eighteen to twenty greenhouses described by one visitor as a 'virtual village of glass'. Apparently, some greenhouses remained as late as 1980's.
Status of the School
in 1903
Walking along Devon Avenue
west of Western Avenue in 1914
photo - Jerri Walker - Forgotten Chicago on Facebook
on Facebook!
“This is Devon Avenue in 1914 looking east from about Claremont, just east of Western Ave. The people are from L to R my great aunt, my Mother, my grandmother, Uncle, and another grand aunt. They are walking from Angel Guardian /St Henry’s church (steeple barely visible in the background) back to a truck farm on the SW corner of Rockwell and Devon where my grandparents worked.
How Devon has changed!” – Calumet 412
An Adult Field Trip
in 1909
Remembering the Area
in 1934
Post Notes:
More about
by The Edgewater Historical Society
Important Note:
These posts are exclusively used for educational purposes. I do not wish to gain monetary profit from this blog nor should anyone else without permission for the original source - thanks!
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Email me at lvhistorical@gmail.com