Kuhn's Rock and the Underground Railroad

In 1846, an anti-slavery society was formed in Lake County. Abolitionists promoted the abolishment of slavery. Some aided enslaved people on the Underground Railroad. The "railroad" wasn’t a railroad at all, but a secret network of safe houses and people who helped enslaved people reach freedom in the north.

Under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, it was illegal to aid people seeking freedom from bondage. When the act was strengthened in 1850, underground activity greatly increased. Though Ohio and Pennsylvania probably saw the most activity, Illinois had several underground routes. One departed from Chicago taking freedom seekers to Canada by way of the Great Lakes, and another went north over land through the area of Burlington, Wisconsin.

Photo of Kuhn Family cabin from Browe School History, 1918. Dunn Museum 2003.0.36

Areas noted as antislavery in Lake County included Deerfield, Gurnee, Ivanhoe, Millburn, and Waukegan. The Kuhn Family cabin (above) in Newport Township was reportedly used as a safe house.

Photo of Kuhn's rock from the Browe School History, 1918. This large granite boulder was used as a landmark to direct enslaved people seeking freedom to the "safe house" at the Kuhn family house. Dunn Museum 2003.0.36.

Since the Underground Railroad necessitated secrecy, there were no maps to guide those seeking freedom in the North, only the stars in the night sky, landmarks, and verbal directions. Finding the Michael Kuhn family home in rural 1850s Lake County would have been difficult if not for a distinct landmark nearby known as Kuhn's Rock. Shown above is the John Strock Family on an outing to Kuhn’s rock circa 1918.

The rock was named after German immigrant Michael Kuhn (1800-1882), whose log house was reportedly used as a "safe house" on the Underground Railroad. Kuhn's rock is a glacial erratic. It originated far north of Illinois, and as the last glacier melted and retreated over 12,000 years ago, it deposited the rock here. It is thought to be the largest gray granite rock in the State of Illinois. 

Bess Bower Dunn posing next to Kuhn's Rock, circa 1910. This photo gives a good perspective of the rock nestled on farmland. Bess Bower Dunn Collection, Dunn Museum.

With the construction of Interstate 294 in the late 1950s, the rock needed to be moved out of the road's right-of-way. Purportedly, road contractors Campanella and Sons moved Kuhn's rock onto private property where it remains today.

Eucharistic Congress 1926

The first Eucharistic Congress of the Catholic Church took place in Lille, France in 1881. The 28th Congress was held in Chicago, June 20-24, 1926, the first time it had been hosted in the United States. It was considered the greatest religious gathering in modern times.

A High Mass was given at Soldier Field with an estimated 400,000 in attendance. Shown here are the "Nuns and Women's Choir of 10,000 Voices" which sang at Soldier Field on June 22.

On June 24th, 750,000 people made a pilgrimage in a Eucharistic Procession from Chicago to St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. The participants traveled on foot, by auto, bus, and by rail. Shown below is a view of St. Mary of the Lake with the procession being led by Cardinal Bonzano. The Chapel of the Immaculate Conception is at left.

The village's population swelled from 590 to 750,000, as the faithful and Church religious gathered from around the world at St. Mary of the Lake. Chicago's North Shore Line railroad made history when it transported 250,000 people to the event. Today, a trail on the south side of Route 176 is all that remains of the line that brought people to St. Mary's.

In 1920, Cardinal Mundelein had announced plans to build St. Mary of the Lake. At right is a postcard view of the dedication day, celebrating the opening of the seminary.

A colorized view (below) of the Eucharistic Procession at St. Mary of the Lake with prelates crossing one of the bridges on the property.


The village adopted George Cardinal Mundelein's name in 1924, in honor of his building the seminary and for what some called as a way to "cash in" on the free advertising the seminary and Eucharistic Congress would bring.

The Tenpin Game

Perhaps you've heard the saying, "If our town didn't have a bowling alley, we'd have no culture at all."

 Zion Bowling Lanes with Zion Hotel visible in the distance, circa 1955. Press Association Inc. photograph. Notice the contrast between the modern, streamlined bowling alley building and the historic Zion Hotel (built 1901) in the background. Dunn Museum. 

Bowling became hugely popular in the U.S. in the 1950s thanks to television. Broadcasts of “Championship Bowling” and “Bowling for Dollars" had wide viewership. 

Ninepin bowling was brought to the New World by European settlers. The origin of the tenpin game in the U.S. is unknown, but by the late 1800s it was prevalent in Illinois, Ohio and New York.

 
The Ackerman Hotel in the Fox Lake area, shown at left about 1930, was one of many local hotels that had a bowling alley. The Mineola Hotel in Fox Lake also had an alley in its basement.

I love the sound of bowling, the way the ball hits the pins with a crash. One of my clearest recollections of bowling as a child was on vacation with my family in the 1970s. I stood at the line and found my mark, swung my arm back, and the ball went flying off my hand and into everyone waiting their turn!

This bowling-themed purse is from the Museum's permanent collections. It was used in the Prairie View area (now Lincolnshire) around 1962, no doubt on bowling night.


Bowling alley at Fort Sheridan, circa 1970. (left)










The Women's Army Corps (WAC) bowling team, Fort Sheridan, 1959. From left to right: Master Sergeant Ruth Jacobs, Sergeant First Class Betty Bodell, Sergeant First Class Lydia Lambrecht, Major Ethel Martin, Sergeant First Class Marilyn Barahill.

Famous "Jenny" Curtiss JN-4 Biplane

Curtiss "Jenny" JN-4 at WW I Airshow at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio in 2016. 

Photo credit: Thomas Dwyer  https://www.flickr.com/photos/double_o_zero/ 

During World War I, Curtiss JN-4 airplanes were built and tested in Waukegan. Also known as "Jenny" by Americans for the JN designation in the name, the biplane was probably North America's most famous WW I plane.

The Jenny was built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Parts for the Jenny were assembled at a Curtiss plant on Market Street in Waukegan, and some metal parts were made at Fansteel in North Chicago.

 

Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1919.

  

The Curtiss JN-4 was used to train pilots, but each one needed to be test flown first. Curtiss had its own test pilots, and the Army Signal Corps also had pilots test the planes before they were accepted by the U.S. Army. The test field was on the north side of Waukegan in today's Lyons Woods Forest Preserve on Sheridan Road.

Curtiss Flying Field on north side of Waukegan, 1926. The site is now part of Lyons Woods Forest Preserve. News Sun Collection, Dunn Museum. 

The test field's runway was a farm field, rolled by rollers to smooth the ground as much as possible. The planes would fly to other airfields in Wisconsin, Chicago, and Rantoul.

The twin-seater biplane's maneuverability made it ideal to train pilots. Its top speed was 75 mph, and its service ceiling was 6,500 feet. The JN-4B models were built in Waukegan and powered by an OX-2 piston engine; 76 were sold to the U.S. Army, and 9 to the U.S. Navy.

Civilians took flights in the "Jenny" at the Curtis Flying Field with an official tester for the Curtiss Company. Unfortunately, in October 1919, one death occurred after a flight when the passenger, Hazel Nolan of Waukegan, leaned too close to the propeller. 

Chicago Tribune, October 23, 1919.

On July 3, 1920, the Curtiss JN-4 was featured in a parade in Waukegan. During World War I, the "Jenny" was used to entice the purchase of Liberty Bonds to pay off the war debt.

Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" on parade in Waukegan in front of the Academy Theater, July 3, 1920. Dunn Museum, 93.40.1

Tower Lakes

In June 1924, the Wauconda Leader newspaper called Tower Lakes "one of the most beautiful spots in northern Illinois."


The photograph became a colorized Curt Teich postcard in 1927 as shown below. Tower Lakes is located south of Wauconda on Route 59.


The new subdivision was the brainchild of Myron Detrick and William Brooks. Detrick was the president of the Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda Railroad (founded in 1911), and Brooks a local farmer and real estate developer. One thought is that Detrick was trying to drum up business for the PLZ&W RR, by selling cottages to potential commuters. Unfortunately for him, the railroad went out of business in 1924.

By all accounts, the location seemed perfect, but by 1926, the group sold the property to investors led

by businessman-lawyer, Nazareth Barsumian, an immigrant from Armenia. Barsumian first saw Tower Lakes in the fall of 1925, was captivated by its beauty, and realized its potential for development. He and his Evanston-based partners turned the property into a residential subdivision, naming it Tower Lakes Estates.

Barsumian put together a stunning binder of photographs promoting the subdivision, including the panorama above, and a series of "slice of life" photos including this boy and his collie dog with the text: "Hee-yah, Dog!" The photos transport the viewer to another time and place, filled with slow, lazy days by the water and a dog as faithful and intelligent as Lassie.

The development of the Tower Lakes Estates began slowly, but by the 1930s it formed a governing agency to oversee the growth. After Barsumian died in 1963, his wife and son completed the development of the area. In 1966, the community incorporated as the Village of Tower Lakes.

Diamond Lake Outdoor Fun

Gordon Ray and his dog with pickerel, Diamond Lake, 1916. Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum, 91.17.37

Lifelong Diamond Lake resident, Gordon Ray (1893-1987), wrote in his 1980 autobiography that winters were great fun when he was a kid. "Outside of getting wood, and cutting ice and doing chores there wasn't too much work to worry about. Outdoor activities included skating, coasting on sleds, sleigh riding, rabbit hunting and fishing through the ice."

Gordon Ray's Diamond Lake Grade School friends sledding in 1908. Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum, 91.17.6

In the winter of 1908, Gordon Ray took photographs of his classmates from Diamond Lake Grade School. The boys are sledding during a short break from school.

Diamond Lake Grade School friends. Photo by Gordon Ray, 1908. Gordon Ray Collection, Dunn Museum. 91.17.5

 
Just two years prior to taking these photographs, a thirteen-year old Gordon Ray spent his savings on a camera. He wrote: "That was a real thrill for a 13 year old boy, and I quickly learned how to take pictures, to develop the films, and to print my own pictures."

The Ray Family had a farm on the east shore of Diamond Lake. From the 1890s to 1946 the Rays were in the resort business. Their first venture was the Lakeside Cottage, an expansion of the family's farmhouse where vacationers boarded and enjoyed Ma Ray's famous chicken dinners. Then Lloyd and Gordon Ray opened the popular Ray Brothers Resort from 1906 to 1946.

Diana Dretske ddretske@lcfpd.org 

Tripp School

The Tripp School in Vernon Township was located on the east side of Route 21, one mile north of Deerfield Road. It was located in this general location from the 1840s to 1979.

The original Tripp School was a log house built as a dwelling at the "back" of the Francis Tripp farm. The students sat on benches, the older children having a bench and a desk, and the heat source was a fireplace at one end of the building.

On August 15, 1848, Tripp sold a small portion of his land along Route 21 to the school district for $10.

Parents paid 50 cents per scholar/per term to send their children to the school. The teacher, generally female, was paid from this money.



In 1912, the school's frame building was lifted and a basement put under it, an entryway added and a furnace installed. The remodeled school is shown below in 1918.


Interior view of the Tripp School's classroom, 1918.


A map of Vernon Township was drawn by Tripp School students in 1918. The communities of Half Day, Prairie View and Aptakisic are shown, now all absorbed into Lincolnshire and Buffalo Grove. The Tripp School is indicated at the bottom right. Note there are four other schools on the map, all within a few miles of each other.

In 1912, there were 92 one-room schools in the county. But by this time, the popularity of the “rural” schools was waning in favor of larger, more completely equipped schools with teachers specializing in subject areas rather than one teacher teaching all subject areas. Some of the one-room schools had as few as ten students, and it was considered cheaper to bus them a few miles down the road to the larger “central” schools than to maintain smaller, separate schools.

Seventh and eighth graders of the Tripp School, 1918, are from left to right: Ruth Rockenbach, Louis Steen, Lillian Seiler, Maudesse Nitzer, and Molly Seiler.

The Tripp School continued until 1957 when it was consolidated into Aptakisic-Tripp Elementary School District 102. For a time the historic building was used as an American Legion hall, but in 1978 it was scheduled to be burned for firefighting practice by the Vernon Fire Protection District.

Thankfully, a group of concerned local citizens rallied to save this chapter of their community's heritage. In 1979, the building was re-located by William Boyd and Phil Spinuzza, and is now being used as an antiques shop at the Sale Barn Square antiques center at 971 N. Milwaukee Avenue (Route 21) in Wheeling.

The history written and photographed by the Tripp School's scholars in 1918 and in the Dunn Museum's collections is hosted at the Illinois Digital Archives: Tripp School Online