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Explore the RHS Facebook Archives, a rich repository of local history written by Carol Flynn. For two decades, Carol brought a deeply dedicated voice to public education at RHS. Her role as Facebook administrator through mid-2025 naturally extended her prolific research into meticulously detailed articles, most notably her multi-part historical series posts. Today, Carol continues her local history writing for The Beverly Review and other outlets.

Earth Day

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Ridge Park Wetlands
Hurley Park oak savanna
Down Winchester Ave., you can see the oak trees that once were part of a great oak savanna on the Blue Island Ridge.
The ancient sand dunes in the back of Mount Hope Cemetery. This was once the western shore of the Blue Island, some 12,000 years ago.
The ancient sand dunes in Mount Hope Cemetery.

Today, Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day. Its purpose is to support environmental protection world-wide. It was first celebrated in 1970.

The Blue Island Ridge was once a pristine wilderness. It was described as "a vast vegetable solitude" more than 150 years ago.

Today you can still see glimpses of the "wild Ridge" here and there.

Notable features are:

– Dan Ryan Woods

– Ridge Park Wetlands

– Hurley Park oak savanna

– Ancient sand dunes in Mt. Hope Cemetery

Earth Day Blue Island Ridge Environment Nature Conservation
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Sand deposits in Mount Hope Cemetery date back to when the Blue Island really was an island. This was the western side of the island; the east has the sharply defined ridge along Longwood Drive.
New mausoleums are under construction in the southeast corner of Mount Hope Cemetery. Digging the foundations is cutting into the sand deposits that formed on the west side of the Blue Island 20,000 years ago.
This area is located just west of the Metra tracks between 95th and 96th Streets, just north of Ridge Park. This is not much more than a museum exhibit of wetlands but this type of ecosystem went east to the lake when settlers first started coming to the Ridge.
There is a walking path through the Ridge Park Wetlands. After it rains, the wetlands really show what they are all about. Some lawns on Longwood Drive, and other areas to the east below the Ridge, can look like wetlands (which is what they were) after a heavy rain.
A number of ecosystems were in the Ridge area, including wetlands, prairie, and woodland. Hurley Park Woodland at 100th St. and Winchester Ave. gives a small example of the woodland primarily made up of oak trees that covered the top of the Blue Island. Dan Ryan Woods is managed as a woodland.
Looking south down Winchester Ave. from Hurley Park at 100th Street, oak trees that are hundreds of years old line the street. This was all woodlands in the past.
South Dan Ryan Woods (south of 87th Street) shows the woodlands and ravines that covered the "wild Ridge" in the past. One can easily see how the terrain was ideal for hiding stolen horses; thus the Morgan Park area became known as "Horse Thief Hollow."

April 22 is Earth Day when we focus on environmental issues. There is not much left of the original "wild Ridge" due to almost 200 years of "development" but here are four places where we can still see remnants of some of the ecosystems that once flourished here.

In the far southeast corner of Mount Hope Cemetery (entrance on 115th Street at Fairfield Ave.) we can see the remnants of the vast sand deposits that were the western shore of the pre-historic Blue Island. The sandy land was not suitable for farming and that is why we have so many cemeteries and golf courses along the western side of the island, starting with St. Mary's and Evergreen Cemeteries at 87th Street and going south.

Second, we have the Ridge Park Wetlands to the west of the Metra train tracks just north of 96th Street. The water ran off the Ridge to the east, creating wetlands, swamps and marshes for miles. This is one very small patch still preserved.

Third, we have Hurley Park at 100th St. and Winchester Ave. where there is signage about the once vast oak woodlands that covered the area. We still have old growth oak trees in the area but many of them are reaching the end of their lifespan and will die off in the next 50 years. We have not kept pace with establishing new oak trees.

Last, we have the south section of Dan Ryan Woods (south of 87th Street) where we can still see the ravines and natural gradients in the terrain that would have existed before most of the land was leveled for building.

Photos by C. Flynn.

Earth Day Environmental History Local Ecosystems Nature Preservation Ridge History