Check on the Restoration of a Mansion

In 1992, voters agreed to let the DuPage Forest Preserve District purchase the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook, Illinois, and take on its operation and restoration.

The Tudor Revival mansion is huge and beautiful, built in 1921 for F.S. Peabody. Unfortunately, Mr. Peabody died soon after its completion and his surviving family decided not to keep the house.

It was sold in 1924 to the Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart, a Catholic men's religious community. The Franciscans added a spartan two-story retreat building and turned the living room into a beautiful chapel. The mansion served as a religious retreat up until the Forest Preserve acquired it.

After so many years of hard use, Mayslake was overdue for basic maintenance, let alone restoring it to its 1920's glory. Of course the repair bills have been staggering, but progress is being made. It's actually quite fascinating to see the walls stained and peeling in one room and then see what wonderful refurbishment has taken place in the next.

Classes, performances and programs take place at Mayslake all year round, but if you want to take the Restoration in Progress Tour, there are only two tours left this year: Wednesday, December 2 and Wednesday, December 9. Tours will resume again in late January.

Where History Is Happening

Links to some upcoming events:

Nights of Luminaria

Saturday,
December 19

One of the most beautiful and romantic visions of the year. The streets, steps, and sidewalks of Galena are lined with nearly 5,000 candle-lit luminaries that burn from approximately 6 pm to 9 pm. Locations include: Old Train Depot, along the riverbanks, Park Avenue, Grant Park, Bouthillier Street, footbridge, Post Office, Old Market House, and steps between Main and Prospect Streets.

Postville Courthouse State Historic Site Christmas Open House

Saturday, December 5
12 pm to 4 pm.

The courthouse at 914 Fifth Street, Lincoln, will be decorated in the style of the mid 1800's and its Christmas tree will feature prairie dolls, wooden decorations and grape vines. Tour guides explain the ornaments and how they were crafted in the 1840's. Period music will fill the historic building and Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln impersonators will greet visitors as they arrive. Cake and punch will also be served.

Belvidere Hometown Christmas

Friday, December 4
Saturday, December 5

Horse drawn carriage rides, food, crafts, music, storytellers, and a petting zoo. And if that's not enough there's also a parade, a holiday lights display and "Christmas in the Cabins" at the Conservation District. A full calendar of events is at their web site or in the local paper.

A Seventy Year Old Surprise

Recently the city of Naperville refurbished a park monument that commemorated the centennial celebration of DuPage County in 1939. When they removed the brass plaque from a large granite boulder, they discovered a compartment hollowed into the stone. Inside the hollow was a sealed metal box. 

Mayor A. George Pradel, assisted by curators from the Naper Settlement, opened the box in the council chambers in front of a gathering of citizens. Kate was among those who eagerly watched as Mayor Pradel lifted out one historical tidbit after another. While the mayor joked that maybe there might be something in there worth enough to balance next year's city budget, the items were of historical rather than monetary value. 

Included were newspaper from several DuPage Towns, letters from residents and a couple of coins from the 1830's. The contents are on display at the Naper Settlement Museum until the end of the year but you can also see a list of the items as well as some photos from the opening event at the city's website. 

The Centennial Committee apparently intended to have the time capsule opened in 2039 for DuPage County's Bicentennial, but it was a good thing the workmen stumbled across it early. The box had some water damage and a couple of photos inside were completely destroyed. Who knows if anything would have been left to see in another thirty years? 

DuPage County was carved out of Cook County in 1838 principally through the political activities of Joseph Naper who founded Naperville in 1831. Tradition has it that Naper and Abraham Lincoln, who was also serving in the Illinois General Assembly at that time, swapped support to help pass their pet proposals. Naper wanted the new county and Lincoln wanted to move the state capital from Vandalia to Springfield. Both men were successful.

Update: The city webpage is no longer active, but you can read more here.

Illinois Agricultural History

The Illinois State Museum and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library recently completed a two-year project that culminated in the Audio-Video Barn web site.

Chock-full of stories and histories of rural life in Illinois, the Audio-Video Barn has so much to browse, you could spend months going through it all. Included is more than 300 hours of interviews with people who farmed our area since the 1950's.

The niftiest part of this web site is how you can search it. Instead of having to listen to all 300 hours, you can search for a particular county, time period or topic and just find clips that have to do with your search term.

There are also lesson plans to help bring this information into the classroom, so get your children or grandchildren to tell their teachers about this fascinating web site. They might get extra credit points!

Let's Hear It for Independent Booksellers!

Local history is often under-represented in bookstores because there just isn't enough money in it for publishers and booksellers. Obviously, the local history market is limited, but of extreme importance to those who live in that location.

Independent booksellers have the freedom to carry local books that your average bookstore chain won't bother with, and for that we local authors are extremely grateful!

Becky Anderson Wilkins is the co-owner of the two Anderson's Bookshops and was just honored with the Heartland Award from from the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association.

Becky gave Kate the opportunity to hold her first ever author event at Anderson's right after Ruth by Lake and Prairie was published several years ago, so we couldn't agree more with the Great Lakes Independent Bookseller Association's choice!

To learn more about GLiBA and find a map of independent booksellers near you, see their website.