Craig Pfannkuche is President of Memory Trail Research, Inc. since 1993, and is the Genealogical Archivist for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad Historical Society since 1984. He is on the Board of Directors of the McHenry County, Illinois Genealogical Society & the Chicago Genealogical Society. He has presented numerous workshops in history, historical & genealogical research & archaeological techniques at both the local and national level.
APRIL 2015 Palm Sunday in 1965 looked like a keeper. Fifty years ago, people woke April 11 to clear skies and unseasonably mild temperatures. Children thought about going out and flying kites against the backdrop of pretty, puffy white clouds. Others went for walks or bike rides.
McHenry County was WWII home of German POWs, Japanese-Americans. At a time when some in this country feel a sense of antipathy toward Arab-Americans living among us, it is worth remembering that during World War II a number of Japanese-Americans – as well as German prisoners of war – were working and living in McHenry County.
NOVEMBER 2013 - Unincorporated Alden, at the junction of Route 173 and Alden Road, may seem like little more than a wide spot on the road.
But those who think that are missing out on a lot of important county history.
The area, supplied by good water from the northern branch of the Nippersink Creek and plenty of timber along its banks, was settled in 1836. It was a superb place for pioneer farmers from New York to settle.
MARCH 2013- The ramshackle building barely is noticed by people driving on Alden Road, just north of Route 173 near the Nippersink Creek.
Faded red, rotting and sinking into the earth, the old board-and-batten siding has lo st its luster. The trim boards hang precariously. The roof is worn and battered by the elements. But people with an eye for detail still may decipher traces of an “E” and t he hint of an “N” on the horizontal board above the entrance. This sign, as old as the building itself, announces the remnants of what once was the Alden railroad station.
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