Fraus with Plows: The 19th Century Development of Skokie :: Essays Papers

Fraus with Plows The 19th Century Development of SkokieOn the corner of Lake and Wagner Roads in Glenview, nearby an Audi dealership, the Glenview Tennis Club, and an Avon plant, nestled between rows of residential developments, is an 18-acre farm. As if its presence wasnt anachronistic enough, the cows grazing in the field attest to the event that the farm, which sits on the border between Chicagos self-christened North Shore and its inner suburbs, is still in operation despite decades of efforts by developers to purchase it and modify the inflict into something more profitable for the north suburban niche. In fact, until 2000, the farm was owned by the Wagner family and run for profit, though it has since been purchased by the Glenview Park District and is now maintained as a museum to showcase the villages historical roots. The rationale behind the villages $7.2 million investment in the land was, as Park District Board President said, ...that this is a part of Glenview, and if we dont acquire it, it wont be there to show the children what Glenview was like. In some ways, perhaps Wagner set ups presence is most fitting as a historical division between the two sets of suburbs directly to the north of the city. While both regions began evolution simultaneously as outgrowths of the rapidly expanding and industrializing urban metropolis to the south, the lakeshore settlements were almost immediately identified as centers to serve the needs of affluent urban commuters, and their resultant development was largely directed towards this goal, whereas the inland settlements were abruptly awakened to their similar potential only in the real estate boom of the 1920s. The explosion of roadway and highway construction after WWII would eventually level the playing field for development between these competing areas and render their boundaries nearly indistinguishable, but until then, towns like Glenview, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, Lincolnwood, and Skokie ( then cognise as Niles Center) , would develop along a very different trajectory than their lakeshore neighbors, one that had much more in common with Wagner Farm than with the exquisite single-family homes arranged in well-maintained subdivisions that now surround it. The development of Niles Center in many ways embodies a regional pattern of suburban development in 19th Century Cook County. With the exception of a few showcase towns like Riverside, Hyde Park Center, and the settlements along