Barrington Hills circa 1940
In the years since The Observer began, we’ve been fortunate enough to accumulate some information on the rich history that occurred before and after Barrington Hills was officially incorporated in 1957. Today seemed to be an appropriate time to share what we’ve discovered with our readers in advance of the third annual Barrington Hills Heritage Fest taking place tomorrow.
Some time ago, a reader shared a map with us depicting what life was like in this area in 1940, and it’s quite a unique contrast from the village we now live in today.
As one might imagine, Barrington Hills was once a large farm community. Some were hobby farms owned by Chicago business people for weekend getaways. Other properties were working farms supporting the livelihood of families providing food to people who worked in the city, and there was a surprising diversity in what people raised at the time.
For example, Orville Caesar built a dairy farm known as Dorvillee Dairy. He had 100 cows and a poultry roost of 1,000 chickens where people now live off of Brinker Road.
Arthur Haeger, on the other hand, raised poultry for a different purpose on his 240 acres near the Fox River according to one historian. He raised fighting cocks, which he sold at a high price at cock fights held around Cook County and on the south side of Chicago.
Others raised, bred and sometimes showed animals such as dairy and beef cattle, pedigreed pigs, dairy goats, polo ponies, wild game or dogs at that time.
Despite all the work involved in running these farms, many residents found time to relax and socialize with neighbors at that time. The Barrington Hills Country Club was established in 1921, and today, it’s about the only landmark still recognizable on the 1940 map. There were also two picnic grounds for neighbors to gather and children to play.
To view the 1940 map to discover what your property was used for or who owned it back then, click here.
Another resource we’ve found which dates back over 100 years into the history of Barrington Hills came from the Barrington Area Library. The “Barrington Area Historical Street Atlas” provided a narrative of how roads came to be named in the area.
Notable names of residents from a century or more ago that are now remembered through road names such as Bateman, Bell, Caesar, Hart, Otis etc., and this atlas provided background accounts of how most roads we now live on in Barrington Hills came to be named.
A copy of the history of the naming of Barrington Hills roads can be downloaded by clicking here, or to view the entire atlas for the greater Barrington area, click here.
-The Observer
It appears the 1940 map debunks the myth that large scale horse boarding operations have always operated within the boundaries of Barrington Hills. It is always inconvenient when facts get in the way of the story line.
Thanks BHO for posting this important Barrington Hills historicle document. If Barrington Hills is going to remain true to its history, Anderson II Horse Boarding Amendment must be scrapped and replaced with sensible “special use” legislation with consideration of reinstatement of prior home occupation ordinance where residential zoning standards remain paramount.
After this is completed, the current VBH BOT must sue former VBH Pres. Abboud and members of BOT individually for the $186,000.00 expended by Abboud and former BOT in legal fees to Burke-Warren to shut down Oakwood Farm given it only took a 25 cent letter by former Pres. Abboud pretending to be building inspector Donald Schuman to keep it open, albeit illegally, but done with the approval of former BOT members.
When there were calls by residents for investigation into “pay to play” politics in 2011 arising from the Schuman Letter and campaign donation 34 days later, former VBH BOT Ramesh, Messer, Meroni, Selman and Gohl did nothing except those still seated on BOT after election in an effort to quell the public passed new rules governing public comment where BOT no longer had to answer to residents.
In all of the shenanigans surrounding Oakwood Farm and commercial horseboarding is the outright betrayal of VBH taxpayers by prior BOT who traded $186,000 of taxpayer funds and successful ruling by the Appellate Court in return for an illegal secret campaign donation of $15,000.00. to its majority political slate called “Save 5 Acres”. ($15,000.00 for them; a cost of $186,000.00 to us.)
At the most recent BOT meeting on horseboarding, experienced trial attorney John Pappas indicated he had at least 26 names on his deposition list. As a fine trial attorney dedicated to finding truth and farreting out political corruption, no doubt these 7 BOT names are at the top of his 26 names to be deposed.
Former Trustee Ramesh, when you asked at the BOT meeting paraphrasing
your favorite reality T.V. show, “Whose Side Are You On”; we know one side you are not on, and that is the side of the VBH taxpayer evidenced by your silence and inaction on BOT at a time when you were publicly called upon by vocal residents in your fiduciary capacity to do something to protect the taxpayer as well as the rule of law. Instead, you sat just there, said nothing, and just stared . . . . . . . . . . You told all of us then in the boardroom in 2011, whose side you were on!