The RHS Facebook page is a rich archive of history-related posts by Carol Flynn, RHS Facebook admin and writer until mid-2025. Carol prolifically wrote a wide variety of meticulously researched local history articles for RHS. She continues to write for the Beverly Review and other media sources with articles particularly focused on local Ridge history.
2024
June 6, 1944, headlines in the Chicago Tribune. That summer, the news was dominated by the war in Europe. Many servicemen from Chicago and the Ridge fought bravely to stop the Nazis and fascist regimes from taking control. There are few World War II veterans still with us today.
The History of Brood XIII Cicadas in the Chicago Area – Part 2
The missionaries, explorers, traders, and settlers who came from Europe to the Americas had varying degrees of experience with cicadas in their home countries.
There are over 3,390 species of cicadas identified today, and they are found on every continent, except Antarctica, in habitats with deciduous trees. Cicadas prefer more tropical climates, and there are at least 800 species of cicadas in Latin America, but only sixty species are found in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.
The common, or ash, cicada, which often lays its eggs in ash trees, is one of the most familiar species in central and southern Europe. It was officially named in 1758. It is found in Italy, France, and Spain, countries of origin for early travelers to the Americas. The ash cicada has a three-year lifespan underground, with some specimens maturing and emerging every year.
Farther north in Europe, cicadas are scarcer.
In England, where many of the early colonists came from, only one species of cicada is found. This is a different species from the ash cicada, and like many other species of these insects around the world, this one has a very limited geographic range. It is confined to the New Forest in the southern part of the country, a 71,000-acre tract of forest, heathland, and pasture, declared a royal forest more than 1,000 years ago.
This same species was once found throughout Europe as part of a complex of species, each one distinguished by its “song.” Now it is considered endangered. The New Forest cicadas haven’t been seen or heard in England since 2000, a source of worry and study for the experts. The species does still exist in limited places in East Europe.
No species of cicadas appear to be listed as native to Ireland, which has a cooler climate than many insects and reptiles can tolerate.
Although some Europeans who came to the “New World” might have had some experience with cicadas in their countries of origin, many, including the English, likely did not. They had to learn about and adjust to the native flora and fauna in their new country.
The periodic cicadas found only in North America were new to them. The unique characteristics of the periodic cicadas is that distinct species and combinations of species, called broods, have evolved 13- or 17-year lifecycles, and they emerge almost all at once in synchronization.
Cicadas were commonly identified as “locusts” in the beginning. They were viewed as the biblical pests who appeared in large swarms, traveling across an area and devouring crops. Cicadas are not in the locust family, and do not behave like locusts. There are true locusts in the Americas, however, and the size of the periodic broods of cicadas and their clumsy flying resulted in their being considered together at first.
The first known account by an English settler that referred to cicadas was a 1633 report by William Bradford, the governor of the Plymouth Colony, in which he stated: “… there was a numerous company of Flies which were like for bigness unto wasps or Bumble-Bees; they came out of little holes in the ground, and did eat up the green things, and made such a constant yelling noise as made the woods ring of them, and ready to deafen the hearers; they were not any seen or heard by the English in this country before this time ….”
During the 1700s, the details of the lifecycles of the periodic cicadas, that is, the 13- and 17-year lifespans underground and the emergence en masse of large numbers from holes in the ground, started to be recognized and documented.
In 1775, Thomas Jefferson reported on one brood’s 17-year cycle, mentioning that an acquaintance remembered “great locust years” in 1724 and 1741, and Jefferson recalled one in 1758, and now they were emerging at his estate at Monticello in 1775. He noted the females laid their eggs in the small twigs of trees.
In 1800, a Black tobacco farmer in Maryland, Benjamin Banneker, who was a self-taught naturalist and mathematician, wrote in his journal about experiencing the emergence of cicadas in 1749, 1766, 1783, and 1800.
Articles that appeared in 1809, attached to this post, described the current knowledge about these “American locusts.”
As early as 1715, it was also observed that these insects were a favored dietary course for animals. One Philadelphia-based minister reported that “swine and poultry ate them, but what was more astonishing, when they first appeared some of the people split them open and ate them.”
Settlers started putting down roots in the Chicago area in the late 1700s, and on the Blue Island Ridge in the 1830s. They encountered what today is known as Brood XIII of the 17-year cicadas, also known as the Northern Illinois Brood, the largest group of cicadas in the world.
The next post in the series will look at how Chicago embraced this natural phenomenon through the years.
The History of Brood XIII Cicadas in the Chicago Area – Part 3
By the time settlers from Europe started putting down roots in the Chicago area in the late 1700s, the people on the East coast had been documenting and discussing the periodic cicadas for over a century.
The periodic cicadas of the genus Magicicada, found only in North America, have characteristics that make them unique in the animal kingdom.
These characteristics are the 13- or 17-year lifecycles they have evolved, and the synchronized emergence of almost all the insects in a species at the same time in the same year.
In the early 1800s, cicadas were still confused with locusts, but really the two insects were very different. Cicadas did not descend upon and destroy crops the way the biblical swarms of locusts did, and this difference was starting to be slowly recognized.
The thinking about the cicadas was shown in a succession of articles in the Chicago Tribune in 1871, a year that the same species of cicadas emerged that are emerging now. By that year, the communities of Beverly and the new Morgan Park were being built, so these insects certainly would have been noticed on and around the Blue Island Ridge.
Some excerpts from those articles are:
May 30: “The much-dreaded seventeen-year locust has already appeared in Illinois. They will probably be found all over the northern part of the State, in greater or less numbers, and will undoubtably make immense havoc among the fruit trees and shrubs, while they threaten but little damage to the grain. The locust is reported to have last appeared in this section in 1854, so that it is due in 1871.”
June 19: “The insects are said to be really no locusts at all, no more than a horse is a hog. [They are] scientifically quite distinct. We saw them on the trees in myriads, and the smaller limbs and twigs were bored by them and millions of eggs deposited in the wood. The noise made by them in the forest is wonderful…. Of all the curious creatures that we have seen, they ‘beat all nature.’”
June 28: “The mission of the seventeen-year locusts has apparently been discovered. It having been ascertained that these celebrated insects have not visited … for the purpose of devouring the crops, as the farmers had anticipated, it came to be a question what under heaven they did come for.” With tongue in cheek, the article decided the cicadas came to entertain schoolboys, providing them with a means to disrupt classroom activities.
In 1888, seventeen years later, the newspapers covered the next emergence of the periodic cicadas in the Chicago area. By then much of its lifecycle was documented, but still not well understood.
Chicagoans were familiar enough now with the cicadas, however, to start thinking of them in more entertaining ways. An article in the June 13 Chicago Tribune, included as an attachment to this post, used illustrations giving them some human characteristics.
They were still having trouble with a common name for the insect, however. On July 5, the Inter Ocean newspaper reported: “The insect known as the seventeen year locust is not a member of the locust but of the cicada family, and its correct name is the harvest fly.”
By 1905, Chicagoans were starting to get downright blasé about the cicadas, and the comments were sarcastic or ironic.
Some examples were:
Chicago Tribune, April 24: “The seventeen year locusts … are due again this spring. They will have to come early if they expect to hold their own with the every-year insect pests.”
Chicago Tribune, June 7: “’What are you making such a hideous racket about?’ asked the caterpillar. ‘Mind your own business!’ retorted the seventeen year locust. ’This is the first chance I’ve had to make a noise since 1888!’ Whereupon he started up his buzz saw again.”
Chicago Tribune, June 8: “If the seventeen year locust could be grafted on the mosquito there might be sixteen consecutive years worth living, anyway.”
Chicago Tribune, June 26: “In addition to its other objectionable qualities the seventeen year locust labors under the hallucination that it can sing.”
However, with every emergence, new facts about the cicadas were being learned. In 1905, it was reported that sometimes the 17-year cicada “gets dates mixed up and comes out ahead of time.”
Scientists have observed that some of the periodic cicadas emerge one or four years too soon, or four years too late. Why this occurs is still a mystery. One theory is that these “stragglers,” as they are called, may be developing too quickly or too slowly, but that does not explain why this occurs in four-year cycles.
By 1922, the value of cicadas was starting to be recognized, and actual praise and fondness for the insects started to creep into reports about them.
In the Chicago Tribune on July 9, an article called them a “magnificent visitor” with “rich coloring” and “intense coral eyes,” “the least pestiferous pest that ever swarmed over the country.”
The article noted the fondness animals had for eating them, from birds to cats and dogs. It was noted that animals filling up on cicadas left their usual food uneaten, and “if the cherries hang in rich, red clusters it is because the birds and squirrels are too fed up with locusts to notice their former favorite food.”
Photos of the cicadas started being used in the papers.
This was also their first emergence year when they started being referred to regularly as Brood XIII of the 17-year cicadas. This numbering system started in 1893, developed by Charles Marlatt to replace the very complex and difficult system that existed previously.
A “brood” has been described as like a graduating year for a classroom of cicadas that have all grown up together. In the system, the numbers 1 to 17 denote the 17-year cicadas, and 18 to 30 the 13-year cicadas.
An illustration by Marlatt of the “Seventeen Year Locust” which is now known as Brood XIII appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1922.
The next emergence of Brood XIII was in 1939. That would be the earliest year that people who remember it are still around. The next post will look at cicadas in “recent memory.”
Ridge Historical Society recently discovered a stunning online collection of aerial kite photography that shows expansive views of portions of Beverly Hills, Washington Heights, and Morgan Park in 1899. After 125 years of development from a rural community to urban environment, the locations of most of the photos were unrecognizable.
In this program, RHS board member Tim Blackburn and Historian Linda Lamberty will present how they resolved the locations of the photos and discuss the community’s development that is visible in the aerial photos. Topics include the history of Bethany Union Church, evolution of Chicago Bridge & Iron Company, development of a farm into a small subdivision of Walter Burley Griffin homes, and how greenhouses dotted the local landscape. A future program will focus on recreating these aerial photos via drone photography.
Please note that the Graver-Driscoll House where RHS is located is not air conditioned or handicapped accessible. Parking is on the street on Seeley Avenue, then walk down the driveway to the entrance of the building.
10621 S. Seeley Avenue, Chicago. Friday, June 21, 7:00 p.m.
Members $10, non-members $15.
Limited Capacity. Please RSVP or buy tickets soon.
RSVP with the number attending at 773-881-1675 or ridgehistory@hotmai.com
Get tickets today at bit.ly/1899kite
Happy Father's Day!
In recognition and celebration of Juneteenth
The History of Brood XIII Cicadas in the Chicago Area – Part 4 REVISED and Conclusion
The earliest emergence of Brood XIII of the 17-year periodic cicadas, also known as the Northern Illinois Brood, that people are around to remember occurred in 1939.
Since then, there have been five more emergences – 1956, 1973, 1990, 2007, and 2024.
By 1939, the basics of the cicada life cycle and behavior were known. Future years brought fine-tuning and additions to this knowledge.
In 1956, newspaper articles were still advising on how to use dangerous, deadly insecticides to kill the emerging cicadas and newly hatched nymphs before they could burrow too deeply. Once they got underground, they were harder to destroy.
One article, which appeared in the Chicago Tribune, stated “If you rate yourself a public spirited citizen who wants to help suppress this pest, here is the procedure,” then related how to use nerve gas developed by the Nazis in World War II on the harmless insects.
The chemical could only be used safely if special protective clothing and face masks approved for use with poisonous gases were worn.
It seems incredible today that these chemicals were not only available for purchase by the public back then, but encouraged for use at their homes.
In 1973, the County Extension Offices advised against spraying the cicadas.
“The best alternative to spraying is to have patience for about two weeks and the Cicada will complete its life cycle and pass out of the picture for another 17 years,” said one advisor.
In between 1956 and 1973, biologists realized that Brood XIII is made up of three distinct species of periodic cicadas that are on the same 17-year cycle, and emerge together. Each species has a distinctive “song” adding to the community cicada chorus.
1973 was also the first year that an official “census” of Brood XIII was started to see if the population stayed consistent or fluctuated from one emergence to the next emergence 17 years later.
In 1990, it was reported that the populations of cicadas were down due to the vast numbers of elm trees that had been lost in the last few decades.
The loss of the trees was due to Dutch Elm Disease, a fungal infection, introduced into the U.S. via imports that came through the Netherlands, although the beetle that carried the fungus came from Asia.
The elm trees in the U.S. had no natural immunity to the fungus, so the spread of the disease to the Chicago area, beginning around 1960, led to the destruction of hundreds of thousands of trees here. The Forest Preserves District of Cook County, a major habitat for Brood XIII, lost over 100,000 trees, including many in the Dan Ryan Woods on the Ridge.
2007 was the first time “cicada mania” took over.
“Cicada cuisine. Cicada sculptures. Cicada poems. Cicada blogs. Cicada tank tops, baseball hats, and coffee mugs. Even a traveling CicadaMobile,” reported the Chicago Tribune. Photographing cicadas became a popular undertaking in 2007. Chicago became a destination spot for people wanting to experience the cicadas.
Cicada cuisine has been a topic over the years.
That animals in the wild, as well as pet cats and dogs, enjoyed them was well known. In 1956, Brookfield Zoo requested that the public collect cicadas and bring them to the zoo, where they fed them as a treat to the birds, reptiles, and even some of the monkeys. The zoo received so many cicadas they froze them for use during the winter.
It is reported that the Brood XIII emergence, as well as other large brood events in other parts of the country, has unexpected consequences – the creation of temporary imbalances in local ecosystems. As the wildlife fills up on cicadas, the usual insects and small prey they eat, including some considered “pests” for crops and gardens, proliferate, and it can take several years for levels to return to “normal.”
Human consumption of cicadas remains of interest. It was reported early on that some Native Americans and early settlers ate them.
Newspaper articles give directions for harvesting cicadas, and recipes for preparing them, from coating them in egg-batter and deep frying them to using them in pies. Their taste has been described as “sweet and nut-like,” “crispy chicken nuggets,” and “new potato with a hint of avocado.”
Cicadas also have their place in myths and superstitions.
They were considered locusts for centuries, and a bad omen, that would destroy crops. This was not true; cicadas are not related to locusts at all.
In some ancient cultures, they were considered a sign of rebirth and transformation. They were also often a symbol connected to music.
For a long time, before their regular lifecycles were understood, they were considered the forecaster of wars, because there is the appearance of a “W” on their wings.
Of all their traits, though, the one that fascinates people the most is the periodic cicadas’ emergence in 13- and 17-year cycles.
These “prime number” occurrences have resulted in several theories as to their origins, usually relating to “survival of the fittest” natural selection to avoid predation.
However, to some conspiracy theorists, there may be something more sinister going on here. Cicadas could be human-engineered, or even from another planet.
The emergence of Brood XIII is coming to an end for this cycle.
Although very dramatic, and loud, in some places, there is anecdotal evidence on the Ridge that the numbers are down this year due to the decrease in old-growth deciduous trees, those that drop their leaves annually, like the old oak trees that grace the area.
These trees are dying off due to old age, and they have not been replaced over the years. As the trees die off, so do the cicadas that live in their root systems.
There will be many less trees and therefore less cicadas in the coming years if trees that can host and sustain cicada populations are not planted to replace the ones that are removed.
This brings to a pause this series on Brood XIII of the North American periodic cicadas. The story will resume in 2041.
Lost or Found? – Identify Buildings #3, 4, and 5
“There was a time, not long past, when Morgan Park was only the tramping ground of the hunter, and little did its early settlers think it would ever be a component part of the young Giant, then beginning to loom up some thirteen miles to the North.
“But Time and Railroads work mighty changes in a very few years in this great Northwest.
“Commerce, Manufactures and Agriculture have made Chicago one of the great marts of the world.”
– Views of Morgan Park, 1889
This quote is from the introduction to a book of photographs of buildings in Morgan Park published in 1889.
Those photos form part of the current exhibit at the Ridge Historical Society (RHS), “Louise Barwick’s Lost Ridge,” which explores the Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhood as it existed in times past.
One section of the exhibit, produced by RHS Board member Tim Blackburn, includes historical images of buildings in Morgan Park. Some of these buildings still stand, although they might have been moved from their original locations or altered from their original looks, and some of these buildings have been demolished
Here are three images from that book of photos. Can you find these houses in Morgan Park – that is, if they are still standing?
The answers will be posted in a few days.
Happy Fourth of July from the Ridge Historical Society
By Carol Flynn
The Ridge 100 Years Ago
As this year’s Fourth of July activities wrap up, let’s look back at the holiday 100 years ago. The Ridge communities were known for their festive celebrations.
On June 27, 1924, Sullivan’s Englewood Times, a south side Chicago newspaper, reported that “big doings” were being planned for the annual community Fourth of July event to be held in Ridge Park.
“The community has a reputation to provide a good time and it surely will be a successful day if balmy summer weather prevails,” stated the paper.
The Boy Scouts assisted the Beverly Hills Post of the American Legion in going house-to-house to help the event’s finance committee raise funds.
A busy day from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. was planned. A “delightful time” was promised, with pink lemonade, dancing, a public speaker, athletic and swimming events, baseball, a band concert, and “booths galore.” Not to be forgotten was the “beautiful” fireworks display scheduled for the evening.
“The park is big and a spirit of welcoming” would be extended to everyone, promised the event planners.
The weather did cooperate that day. July 4th fell on a Friday in 1924. It was a clear day, but cool, in the low- to mid-sixty degrees. That proved to be fine with the community, and the event proved to be everything promised.
“The Ridge’s Community Fourth was one of the best ever. The whole town was there from Morgan Park to Beverly and 91st st., not counting the visitors from other places,” wrote the paper the following week, on July 11, 1924.
About a mile to the north, in the Beverly Woods (now Dan Ryan Woods) at 87th Street and Western Avenue, another group also held a big Fourth of July event in 1924.
According to the Southtown Economist, another southside paper that had previously been known as The Merchants Telegram, the Englewood Old Settlers Association invited their community to join them for a day of picnicking, music, and games.
“Old settlers,” or “pioneer,” societies were once very popular. People who had lived in a community for a specified amount of time got together to share stories and memories. Today, in some ways, the “nostalgia” pages of Facebook fill some of this function, although there is no comparison to getting together in person for reminiscing.
A person had to have lived in Englewood for at least 20 years to qualify for membership in the Englewood Old Settlers Association. The membership of the club numbered 600 in 1924.
For the Fourth of July outing, the attendees gathered at 63rd Street and Ashland Avenue at 10:00 a.m. Transportation to the woods would be by automobile, something still new and exciting for many people. Anyone who needed a ride would be able to find one.
The newspaper reported, “In striking contrast to the days when lanterns furnished their only illumination to guide them to neighborhood gatherings, automobiles will carry the Old Settlers to their picnic.”
The cars were decorated with flags, and horns were provided to create noise for the procession.
The day was filled with activities. Charles S. Deneen, the past Governor of Illinois, gave a speech in the morning. (The next year Deneen would become the U.S. Senator from Illinois.)
A piano had been brought along, and next, the attendees, some in wheelchairs, sang patriotic and old time songs.
A five-inning baseball game was played by two teams of Old Settlers. The oldest player was 71 years old. The prize of a straw hat went to the first man to hit a home run, which happened in the third inning and was the only home run in the game.
Additional competitions went on, with prizes supplied by the local businessmen.
For men, there was horseshoe pitching. Women’s events included wood sawing and nail driving.
There were potato races and sack races, races for “fat men” and “fat ladies,” and for married men and married women. There were also races for boys and girls.
A prize was awarded for the best decorated auto.
Tables and chairs were brought over to the woods for people to set up their “basket” lunches and dinners. Ice cream, pop, and peanuts were sold.
Later in the day there was dancing.
About 2,000 people attended and the event was deemed a social and financial success.
The paper reported that moving pictures of various events would be taken. Those movies may still exist somewhere and would be wonderful to watch.
Because July fourth was on a Friday, many businesses also gave their employees Saturday off. It was the norm back then for people to work a half day on Saturday in addition to full days Monday through Friday. The average work week was 50 hours.
Lost or Found? – Identify Buildings #3, 4, and 5 – TWO LOST AND ONE FOUND
Last week, three more pictures of buildings from an 1889 book of photographs of Morgan Park were posted in the “Lost or Found?” series, with the challenge to identify them and find them if they were still standing.
The answer is that all three of these houses stood on 111th Street but two are gone now and the third is hidden from view.
The Blue Island Land and Building Company established Morgan Park in 1874, designing it as an educational, religious, and temperance community, laid out like an English Village.
In 1889, 111th Street was known as Morgan Avenue and was primarily residential. Western Avenue had not been developed yet as a commercial thoroughfare and was still very rural. The commercial districts were concentrated around the Rock Island train stations to the east, today’s Metra line.
According to RHS research:
Building #3 is lost. This was the Henry Oswald Hough House, with the original address of 2368 Morgan Avenue, located at the northeast corner of 111th Street and Western Avenue where there is now the new dollar store, replacing the CVS pharmacy.
Building #4 is found. This is the Joseph E. McMeen House at 2330 W. 111th Street. The house still stands, but it is obscured by a modern commercial storefront built in front of it on 111th Street.
Building #5 is lost. This was the Rev. Dr. George William Northrup House, with the original address of 2242 Morgan Avenue. The house is no longer standing; the location is now an empty lot on the 2100 – 2200 block of 111th Street.
These houses all had significant histories, which will be covered in the next posts.