History

The Illinois State Legislature organized Lake County on March 1, 1839, by partitioning McHenry County. The new county was bordered by McHenry County on the west, the Wisconsin Territory to the north, Cook County to the south, and Lake Michigan to the east.

Settlers pursued trading, farming, and manufacturing in the hinterland of Chicago's growing economy. Beginning in 1836, stagecoaches traveled Green Bay Road along a route paralleling Lake Michigan that connected Chicago and Milwaukee. Waukegan, along Green Bay Road 40 miles north of Chicago, became Lake County's economic and government center because of its prospering harbor. Designated as the county seat, supplanting Libertyville, Waukegan accounted for 20 percent of county residents by 1850.

Railroads transformed Lake County. The earliest line, the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad, commenced in 1855 and linked Chicago and Milwaukee via Waukegan. Even before its completion, Walter S. Gurnee ( mayor of Chicago, 1851–52) promoted residential development that became Chicago's North Shore. Three North Shore suburbs— Highland Park, Lake Forest, and Lake Bluff —were within Lake County. North Shore residents traveled to Ravinia Park, founded as an outdoor theater in 1904, for opera and symphonies.

The Elgin, Joliet, & Eastern Railroad (the Outer Belt Line), completed in 1891 as an intraregional freight carrier, linked Waukegan to Chicago's other satellite cities, spurring its industrial development. The Chicago, Milwaukee & North Shore Electric Railway (the North Shore Line), transported passengers and freight from 1899 until it shut down in 1963.

Source: Encyclopedia of Chicago

Other Historical Data

Interesting historical bits of information about Lake County

There was once a Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery in the North Chicago and Waukegan area. A large population of Slovenian people were buried there along with St. Mary's Cemetery. It was destroyed for an industrial park and the bodies were relocated in the 1950's (this from a cemetery manager) supposedly all to Ascension Cemetery on Route 137. Actually some of them were relocated to St. Mary's in Waukegan. (From Modyj)

About the Dowst/Doust Family

The home across from the Courthouse in Waukegan is the Dowst⁄Doust home, given to the city by her son. It is currently being used to house the Building Dept. It was at one time an emergency hospital for the city. (From Janice janb111@aol.com )

The Jane Dowst Emergency Hospital opened in Waukegan in 1934. It was a first aid hospital and was available to all physicians and all emergency patients. The supervisor was Mabel M. Shauber, the Assisting Nurse, Mrs. Linnea Bigger. (From Janice janb111@aol.com --
From: History of LAKE COUNTY With Biographies. Author Jane Snodgrass Johnson, and Collaborator J. H. Dudley, 1939 (SCGS#10559) )

Note: SCGS stands for Southern California Genealogical Society.

All of the data in this section submitted by JoLynn O'Hare Oten

Kenosha Telegraph (Kenosha, WI), Friday 10 Feb 1882

Mat. Hogan 1882

Mat. Hogan, of Wadsworth, Ill., lay down on the railway track at that place on Monday night of last week, while drunk, and was run over by a freight train. The train was stopped and he was removed to the station. Next morning Drs. Taylor and Mills amputated one limb and removed large pieces of bone from one of his arms. His recovery is doubtful.

Kenosha Union (Kenosha, WI), 7 Dec 1876

Married.

HIND-GRIFFIN.---At the M. E. parsonage in this city, November 29th, by the Rev. W. E. Walker, Mr. Arthur Hind and Miss Rachel H. Griffin, both of Lake County, Illinois.

Waukegan Daily Gazette (Waukegan, IL), Friday 30 Nov 1906

MILLBURN.

--Miss Hazel Thain went to Kansas City last Monday to visit with her aunt, Mrs. Leonard.

--Miss Carrie Bater returned from Kenosha Tuesday evening.

--Fred Ray started Saturday night on his journey to Oklahoma, where he is to make his future home.

--Mrs. Etta Wienecke of Sycamore, Ill., is visiting her brother in Wadsworth.

--Mr. and Mrs. Scott LeVoy have another son born Nov. 22.

--------------- (I don't have the whole page. I suspect a heading of Waukegan is missing.)

--The people down on Prospect avenue are pleased to see daily, Geo. D. Boulton out on the walks taking his "Constitutionals", longer and longer every day. That shows that he is slowly but surely recovering from his protracted illness.

--Judge Hubbard says it is pleasant to be called to Waukegan on jury service in the forenoon and then after dinner marry a couple or two. Waukegan is certainly an attractive place.

--The friends of Edward Moon will be sorry to learn that he fell on the slippery steps of the back porch of his home one day last week and suffered a collar fracture of the left wrist, the third time he has done that in a few years, once in Canada and twice in Estats Unis.

--Supervisor Robertson likes to go to Waukegan occasionally. He gets called on a jury now and then.

--It may interest some of our young Daughters of the Revolution to know that the last real widow of the Revolution died Nov. 10th, in Plymouth, Vt. Her name was Esther S. Damon, and she was the widow of Noah Damon, who died in 1839.

VOLO.

Mrs. Compton is still very low. A few daysago (sic) she had a slight shock, that in connection with her other ailments makes her recovery doubtful.

Albert Raught is still on the sick list, with rheumatism.

It is reported that there are a number of cases of diphtheria three miles from Volo. One of Mr. Shade’s children died last Thursday, was buried in the night in the Catholic cemetery in Volo.

Mrs. Sarah Huson returned to Elgin on Monday of this week.

NEWPORT AND BENTON.

Mrs. William Hanks Sr., who was going down some steps thought that she has reached the bottom one and fell forward on the ground bruising her right side badly and spraining her right ankle.

Peter Hank’s baby is very sick, threatened with pneumonia.

Mr. and Mrs. John Shanahan, of Chicago came out to Winthrop Harbor Saturday and remained until Monday afternoon.

Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Kammeron have gone to St. Petersburg, Va., to make their home.

Jay Bennett and family have returned from Indian Territory and will make their home in Benton.

The Daily Sun (Waukegan, IL), Tuesday 27 Jan 1920

Barwell Gets Upton Place

By the death of Mr. and Mrs. Upton, John W. Barwell comes into ownership of their fine home at the head of Genesee street. It was not many months ago that Mr. Barwell made a deal whereby for a certain consideration, he was to pay the Uptons a certain amount per month during their life-time, he to get title to their home upon their death. It was a case where speculation was the issue between death and life—and death did not remain away very long after the arrangement had been consummated.

William Hogrewe, 233 George avenue who has been laid up for a few days with a cold and an abscess in his nose is much improved today. Miss Anna Hogrewe is ill.

Mrs. Lillian K. Kubick and children, of North Chicago, are "sucker" state visitors here for a stay of five months.---Tampa, (Fla.) Daily Times.

Pat Brogan of North Chicago and Mrs. Anna Tuny of Chicago were licensed to wed Monday in Chicago.

John Chambers, brother of Miss Marion Chambers of Belvidere Street, chief rate clerk for the Santa Fe railroad in Chicago, died at midnight last night. He had been ill since Friday with pneumonia. Mr. Chambers was 29 years old, and married living on Kilbourne Avenue. His [I don't have the whole page.]

Kenosha Evening News (Kenosha, WI), Friday 12 Nov 1909

MISS ANNA BOSLEY KILLED

Former Kenosha Teacher Killed in a Railway Accident in Michigan.

Telegrams received in Kenosha on Thursday evening report that Miss Anna Bosley, formerly a teacher in this county and in charge of school in the town of Bristol and Pleasant Prairie several years ago met death in a railway accident near Flint, Mich. early Thursday morning. The young woman with two little girls was driving from her boarding house to school when the carriage in which they were riding was truck (sic) by a train. Miss Bosley was instantly killed but the two children with her escaped with minor injuries. The deceased was 28 years of age. She was born in Lake County, Ill., and was well known to people in the southern part of the county. The remains were buried in Michigan on Sunday afternoon.