News and Events
Perkins Players 2017
Banking on Clams
It is 1920 and the United States Bankruptcy Court has called a meeting of creditors for the Fox River Pearl Fisheries in McHenry – which during the previous month had involuntarily filed for bankruptcy with Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division in Chicago.
Creditors range from John P. Weber, who sunk more than $10,000 into the venture, to lumber and dredging companies, to Luther P. Bostwisk – who it is said devised the “secret formula” for growing pearls in clams. But there also are scores of farmers also affected.
Historic Sears faces a bumpy road ahead
A surprising headline caught my eye just before Memorial Day: Sears Holding Corp. reported its first quarterly profit in nearly two years.
My enthusiasm was tempered by the fact that sales at American Sears’ stores open for more than a year fell 12.4 percent, and Kmart (remember that?) sales in the U.S. fell nearly as much. Still, net income for Sears’ shareholders was $244 million, or $2.28 a share, compared with a loss of $471 million last year, or $4.41 a share.
Clamming up only leads to more trouble later
I know a little something about the power of words, which made the recent hub-bub over the wording of a state marker on the Woodstock Square particularly intriguing.
The Old Courthouse and Sheriff’s House will receive an Illinois historic marker from the Illinois State Historical Society, which will recognize the effect of influential labor leader Eugene V. Debs. Debs was imprisoned there for six months in 1895 after disobeying a court order that tried to end a railway worker strike.
Black Jack’s legacy explored in afternoon program
Few, if any, soldiers’ careers compare to the depth and breadth of that compiled by Gen. John L. “Black Jack” Pershing.
Pershing was commanding the U.S. Military Academy color guard when President Ulysses S. Grant’s funeral train crossed the Hudson River.
He crossed into Mexico in 1916 with a force of nearly 10,000 men in pursuit of revolutionary Pancho Villa. And during the pivotal 1918 Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I, Pershing’s redeployment of about 600,000 American soldiers to the forests of the Argonne led directly to Germany’s request for an armistice.
Another piece of history derailed
One of the most important service buildings in Alden and one of the oldest to have survived on its original site in the county is gone.
The Chicago & North Western Railway train station built there in 1867 is dismantled. Like most others of its kind across the nation, it once served as the informational nerve center of the community: bridging the gap between this isolated, rural community and the greater world.
Soon it will be completely out of sight, out of mind.
General Pershing visits McHenry County
3 p.m. Monday, May 15
General Pershing and World War I. Local historian and re-enactor, Ed O'Brien, will assume the guise of Gen. John L. “Black Jack” Pershing, commander of American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I and responsible for more than 2 million men. Pershing, the most celebrated soldier of his time, is worth remembering as our nation marks the 100th anniversary of its entry into the war. Admission: $10.
Museum party kicks off new season
Wine tasting, taste for history key
About 225 people attended the McHenry County HIstorical Society's party May 5, kicking off a new season and a new exhibit: Waterways & Getaways: Resort Life in McHenry County. Special thanks to the International House of Wine and Cheese, Richmond, Three Chefs Catering in Crystal Lake, Joe's Place in Marengo and our musical entertainment, saxophonist/pianist Dave Childress. A very special thank you also to Ed O'Brien, who portrayed Sven Mellin, owner of the Bald Knob Resort on Pistakee Lake.
The times, they are a ... constant
Listening to visiting lecturer Ernest Freeberg talk about Eugene V. Debs on Tuesday night at the McHenry County Historical Society Museum in Union, harkened back to Biblical tales of prophets trumpeting the Messiah.
To hear the University of Tennessee history department chairman tell it, the level of selflessness, charity, morality and integrity exhibited by Debs – a former railroad union leader turned socialist – invited comparisons to Jesus. And in similar fashion, Freeberg said, Debs made many people uncomfortable and power brokers very nervous.
Museum Opening/Wine Tasting - May 5
6 to 9 p.m. Friday
UNION – Turn of the century tourists who ventured to the shores of Fox River/Chain O’ Lakes region of Illinois simply were looking to unwind and soak in the ambiance.
They’d fish. They’d boat. They’d dance. They might even drink some illegal hooch or play the slots. But the idea was to have fun – be it bar hopping with the aid of homemade pontoon boats or listening to the likes of the Bill Kalte Orchestra giving a floating concert out by the old lighthouse on Coon Island.
Museum exhibit explores local resort heyday
The Fox Chain O’ Lakes had become a celebrated resort area as early as the 1870s. At least two steamboats carried tourists and sportsmen from McHenry to the lakes. Fishing parties came from as far away as DeKalb County, and Chicagoans hopped the Chicago and North Western Railroad for weekend getaways with the family during the summer.
A majority of those frequenting the banks of Pistakee Lake and Chain during the turn of the century were well-heeled or well-connected Chicagoans.
Old Huntley High School
Historic Huntley High School demolished
Demolition of the former Huntley High School building turned apartment complex at 11624 E. Main St. began May 17. To view the Northwest Herald video, click HERE.
Built in 1875, the two-story brick structure featured two spiral staircases, four classrooms, and a cellar. A 1909 addition, added two more classrooms, a sick room, and a large – more graduated staircase in the back.
The Fight for Free Speech During World War I
WWI and Peaceful Protest
“… I realize that, in speaking to you this afternoon, there are certain limitations placed upon the right of free speech. I must be exceedingly careful, prudent, as to what I say, and even more careful and prudent as to how I say it. I may not be able to say all I think; but I am not going to say anything that I do not think. I would rather a thousand times be a free soul in jail than to be a sycophant and coward in the streets. …”
– Eugene Debs, June 16, 1918
Canton, Ohio
Time for saddling up to a compromise
There are so many barns, after all, across McHenry County. Will one less, more or less, make a difference in a world where expediency and horse-trading reign supreme?
Of course.
A few years back, the village of Marengo tore down a pristine, rainbow-truss (open span) barn to make room for a salt storage facility. Today, Lake in the Hills is confronted with what to do about a turn-of-the-century barn and stable at 1109 Pyott Road. You’ve no doubt read about the controversy surrounding tenant Silver Lining Equestrian and its future on the 27-acre, village-owned site.
Preserving the past can be a fleeting proposition
Call to action
To those of you who have been quietly grousing about everything from the rising cost of health care to your rising property tax bill, it’s time to actually do something about it.
No more sitting on the sidelines. No more sitting on your hands. No more sitting like ducks on a pond. It’s time – actually, long past time – to stand up and be counted.
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