The most recent history panel installation was at Lyons Woods Forest Preserve on Sheridan Road in Waukegan. The preserve was named for the Isaac R. Lyon family who came to Lake County from Massachusetts in 1843, and owned land within the preserve. The family established the I.R. Lyon General Store in Waukegan that continued for generations.
Isaac Reed Lyon (1815-1883). Dunn Museum 94.34.239
I.R. Lyon General Store in Waukegan shown at right in this photo taken after a heavy snowfall in 1871.
Dunn Museum 94.14.61
Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" airplane parts were assembled in Waukegan during World War I. The biplane was one of North America's most famous war planes and used to train U.S. Army pilots. The JN-4 was test flown on the Curtiss Flying Field on the north side of the forest preserve. For more, read my post on the Curtiss JN-4.
According to the family, George and Jenny "believed it was important to have a good work ethic, to respect the stewardship of land, and to create beauty on earth. They planted thousands of trees so that people could enjoy them forever."
Other preserves to visit with history panels are Van Patten Woods, Grant Woods, Greenbelt, Independence Grove, Wright Woods, Lakewood, and Cuba Marsh. For more information please visit the Forest Preserves's website www.LCFPD.org.
Curtiss JN-4 at Curtiss Flying Field north of Waukegan in today's Lyons Woods Forest Preserve.
News Sun Collection, Dunn Museum
Another land owner was Murl Shanyfelt (1896-1987), who purchased property on the northwest corner of Sheridan and Blanchard. From 1927 to 1947, Shanyfelt lived in Waukegan where he owned and operated People Cash Market. He moved to the site of today's Lyons Woods and established a trailer park on either side of Sheridan Road.
Aerial view of Shanyfelt trailer parks at Sheridan Road and Blanchard Road, 1961.
https://maps.lakecountyil.gov/mapsonline/
The most significant landowner in the preserve's history was the Pavlik family. In 1940, George and Eugenia "Jenny" Pavlik purchased 25 acres of open land and established an evergreen nursery. The mature evergreens in the preserve were planted by the Pavliks as six-to-eight inch seedlings.
George Pavlik and Eugenia "Jenny" Van Honder on their wedding day in 1923.
Photo courtesy of Virginia Pavlik Bleck.
According to the family, George and Jenny "believed it was important to have a good work ethic, to respect the stewardship of land, and to create beauty on earth. They planted thousands of trees so that people could enjoy them forever."
Pavlik's Nursery shipping trees to the Air Force Academy in Colorado, 1950s.
Photo courtesy of Steven Roy.
In the 1950s, George supplied large pines from the nursery for the new Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The huge pines were balled and loaded onto semi-trucks for transport to the Academy.
Aerial looking north of Blanchard Road along Sheridan Road of Pavlik farm, nursery and orchard, 1946.
https://maps.lakecountyil.gov/mapsonline/
Be sure to visit Lyons Woods to learn more of the story of this site and to enjoy over 200 acres of open space.
Trailhead and welcome/history panel at Lyons Woods Forest Preserve.
Other preserves to visit with history panels are Van Patten Woods, Grant Woods, Greenbelt, Independence Grove, Wright Woods, Lakewood, and Cuba Marsh. For more information please visit the Forest Preserves's website www.LCFPD.org.
