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.
May 2023
Posted by a neighbor this morning, here is a fox visiting the Ridge Historical Society. Urban wildlife is a sign of a flourishing environment.
And there is always a history story to be told. Before the European settlers "developed" the Ridge, the area teemed with wildlife and natural resources. Predators like wolves and fox were prevalent, along with the occasional bear and cougar. There were plenty of smaller prey animals, rabbits, squirrels, etc.
The sky would be blackened by the millions of passenger pigeons flying overhead – now they are extinct. Prairie chickens, quail, grouse, song birds, wild turkeys, and birds of prey populated the prairies and forests surrounding the Ridge. The prairie grasses were taller than men and teams of horses.
Streams cut through the Ridge, draining into the wetlands to the east. Migratory waterfowl stopped in the wetlands during their journeys to feast on the wild rice that grew there.
Sand hill cranes built their nests in the local sloughs. The water was so deep in a slough at what is now 107th and Wood Streets that it was impassable.
Deer and earlier, buffalo, were larger grazing animals. Paths like the Vincennes Trail originated as animal trails, as they skirted the wetlands, keeping to high ground.
Forests and savannahs included many species of oaks, birch, and other trees. Wild fruit and nut trees and bushes were numerous. The wild berry brambles were so thick native snakes could be observed travelling along the tops. Edible plants like wild artichokes and wild garlic (that gave Chicago its name) were plentiful, as were medicinal plants known to the Native Americans who lived here.
The streams and rivers to the south of the Ridge – Stony Creek and the Little Calumet River – teemed with fish like pike.
The Blue Island Ridge was paradise.
Ridge Historical Society
Cinco de Mayo
By Carol Flynn
Today the Ridge Historical Society looks at the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge – and those train whistles that can be heard day and night from trains going into and out of our neighbor to the south, the City of Blue Island, with whom we share the Blue Island Ridge.
Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, is an annual celebration of Mexican American culture. The origin of the day commemorates the Mexican army’s victory over the French at a battle in 1862. The success of the smaller Mexican army was a morale booster for the Mexicans, even though eventually Mexico City fell to the invaders.
With time, the day took on more significance in the U.S. than in Mexico to showcase the traditions and pride of Mexican immigrants. Cinco de Mayo should not be confused with Mexico’s Independence Day, September 16, which is more important in Mexico.
Historically, the Mexican community was not that prevalent in the early days of Beverly/Morgan Park, although it is well represented now. However, Mexicans played a vital role in the development of the City of Blue Island. Today, Blue Island’s population is about 50% Hispanic.
Blue Island first developed as a “river city” located on the Calumet River and Stony Creek, and of course the building of the Cal-Sag Channel was very important for commerce. With the coming of the railroads in the mid-1800s, Blue Island became a “railroad hub.”
Many ethnic groups worked on the U. S. railroads – the Chinese, European immigrants, African Americans. But it has long gone unrecognized that over 50% of the tracks in many areas of the country were laid by Mexican workers.
In the early 1900s, the railroad companies sent recruiters into Mexico to entice the people to come to the States to work for the railroads. The recruiters promised nice housing and a high standard of living. The reality for the families that came, however, was very different. They lived in boxcars on the railroad yards, with wooden bunks and no windows, in dangerous conditions, with no running water and no fuel for heat.
The first “railroad camp” in the Chicago area was established in Blue Island in 1917 to house the “traqueros,” or track and maintenance workers, who came here, often with their young families. This was set up around 123rd Street and Winchester Ave. The camp developed the reputation as one of the worst in the country.
With time, as with most immigrant groups, the Mexican workers moved into other jobs and established their own businesses and communities. It is a tribute to this hard-working group of people that they overcame not only the destitute conditions forced upon them but also extreme prejudice to flourish in the country that invited them to move here and became dependent upon them for both the railroad and agriculture industries.
In 1974, the Blue Island city council banned the painting of a mural at 13337 Old Western Ave. that depicted the history of Mexican laborers. The city claimed it was against zoning laws for advertising signs. The U.S. District Court found in favor of the mural painters, stating it portrayed “an idea,” not an advertisement. The mural was completed.
With time, the mural faded, but it was repainted in 2016 as a community project, a vibrant reminder of the history of the Mexican community on the Ridge.
Updated from an original 2020 post.
Sunday, MAY 7, 2023 – 2pm
Spring Bonnet Tea
Reservations close tomorrow, May 4
RHS is happy to be able to hold this annual fundraiser event again. Join us for a Full Victorian Tea featuring a fine selection of savories, scones and pastries. Ladies, please wear a spring hat or bonnet!
A wonderful multi-generational event — bring your daughters or granddaughters!
This Full Victorian Tea is set in the Historic Graver-Driscoll House, on the Ridge in the Beverly Hills neighborhood of Chicago.
Adults $25 Guests Under 12 $15
Get tickets online: https://bit.ly/bonnet-tea
RSVP: ridgehistory@hotmail.com 773.881.1675
National Library Week – Mount Greenwood and Beverly Libraries
Wrapping up National Library Week, the other two libraries on the Ridge, Mount Greenwood and Beverly, are much more recent additions.
Mount Greenwood annexed to the City of Chicago in 1927. Its early years were served by the Walker Branch Library in Morgan Park.
The population continued to grow, however, and in 1960, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) opened a sub-branch of a library in a store front in Mount Greenwood that was open for five hours per day.
In 1964, the CPL opened a full branch in a one-story building, a storefront at 10961 S. Kedzie Avenue. At the time, the CPL was finding it more economical to rent and adapt store fronts for libraries than to build new buildings. This branch consisted of reading rooms for adults and children, but no meeting or display rooms were available. The branch was very busy, and offered Saturday story hours and summer reading programs.
In 1991, Mount Greenwood received a newly built library, the one now in use at 11010 S. Kedzie.
The Beverly Branch Library also started as a storefront library to serve the Beverly and Brainerd areas, replacing a mobile library traveling unit that visited various locations. For instance, on October 22, 1961, the local newspaper announced the mobile library would be stationed at 95th and Charles Streets from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m.
In 1969, the CPL rented a vacant storefront at 2114-16 West 95th Street that was renovated into a library, with 30,000 newly purchased books. When the library finally opened its doors in May of 1970, over 4,000 books and other materials were borrowed in the first three days. In about a decade, the library outgrew this building. The location is now Top Notch Beefburgers.
The Beverly library became part of local folklore when it moved into an old funeral parlor in 1981. The CPL secured the existing building at 2121 West 95th Street to renovate into a new Beverly Branch Library. For decades, this building was the Beverly Chapel, then Lain and Son, funeral home. The renovations cost about $1.5 million, and the library opened in the spring of 1981.
On June 8, 2009, a newly built Beverly Branch Library, the one in use today, opened at 1962 West 95th Street. According to CPL, the branch features environmentally sustainable construction as determined by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
National Library Week – The Walker Branch Library
April 23 to 29 was National Library Week, and we’re looking at the history of the libraries on the Ridge. The previous post covered the first library on the Ridge, the Blue Island Public Library. This post will look at the Walker Branch Library in Morgan Park.
George Clarke Walker (1835 – 1905), a prominent merchant and financier, gave Morgan Park its library.
Walker was born in New York, and came to Chicago at the age of 12. His father rose to prominence in Chicago as a grain merchant who helped establish the Board of Trade, the “old” University of Chicago, and the city’s first railroads. Walker took after his father with his acumen for business and community development. He was a founder of the Chicago Academy of Sciences, the Illinois Humane Society, and the South Park system (which merged into the Chicago Park District).
In 1861, Walker organized the Blue Island Land and Building Company (BILBC), which was deemed “one of the great business undertakings of his life” and which “occupied nearly half his life.”
In 1869, BILBC bought much of the land of the original Thomas Morgan estate for development. They planned a community they called “Morgan Park” and hired Englishman Thomas F. Nichols to lay out the land to look like an English village. Beginning in 1873, the development was marketed to the public.
Morgan Park was positioned as an education, religious, and temperance community, and a good library was a necessity. In 1889, the Morgan Park Library Association was formed, headed by three of the leading residents, Isaac S. Blackwelder, Frank P. Silva, and Charles O. Ten Broeke. Other trustees included Dr. William H. German and Austin W. Wiswell. Subscriptions lists, or memberships, were started, and the growing community responded – there were 121 subscriptions within a few months. Many early community libraries were established as private undertakings, financed by membership fees and donations.
Although Walker never lived in Morgan Park, he was heavily invested in the area and supportive of improvements, and was behind the plans for the library. He personally financed the building of the library.
Walker hired architect Charles Sumner Frost to design the plans, and the Romanesque-style structure was built in 1889-90 from limestone quarried in Joliet. The builder was M.E. Baldwin. The building cost Walker about $10,000, quite a sum for the day. Walker also donated the beginnings of the book collection. The library opened on April 22, 1890.
Miss Mills was the first librarian. She was known for her attention to detail and accurate record keeping. The library got off to a good start, with about a thousand visitors in the first six months.
The library became part of the Chicago Public Library (CPL) system when Morgan Park annexed to the City of Chicago in 1914. The original exterior limestone walls are the oldest structure owned by the CPL.
The library facilities were allowed to be used for other purposes. In its very first year, for example, the Presbyterian Association of Morgan Park held its services there. During World War II, the library was used as the headquarters for local defense operations.
The building is a contributing structure to the Ridge Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The additions were built in 1929 -1933 and major renovations went on in 1995.
The Walker Branch Library is located at 111th Street and Hoyne Avenue.