www.FranzosenbuschHeritageProject.org                     Home

Darmstadt Family

George Darmstadt settled as a farmer in the Proviso area in 1842.  Ownership maps indicate the Darmstadt farm went from the north side of Roosevelt Road to Butterfield Road.  Much of that land is now occupied by Mount Carmel Cemetery.

He was elected Commissioner of Highways (1855) and served with John Bohlander and Charles G. Puscheck.  On April 18, 1891, George Darmstadt was elected the first President of Public School Board No. 3 in the Cook County District. (Later referred to as District #93.) South Railroad Avenue, which bordered the Darmstadt farm, has been renamed Darmstadt Road. The Darmstadts were neighbors of the Porter, Epcke and Wolf families.

George Darmstadt's barn stood for many years on Darmstadt Road as a landmark of these pioneer days.  (See picture below.)

John Darmstadt worked that same farm.  As a lifelong resident of Hillside, John and his wife Helen (Barta) were the owner of the oldest farm in the western suburbs.  His two-acre farm on Butterfield Road was the last piece of the 70 acre farm that had been worked by Darmstadt's family since the mid-19th century.  He sold straw in the winter and vegetables in the summer from a stand on the farm.

Mr. Darmstadt was also a retired employee of Jefferson Electric.

"He was the last of a breed," said Hillside Village Administrator Russell Wajda who, like many village residents, had developed a friendly relationship with Mr. Darmstadt over the years.  "You don't meet many farmers in a suburban setting these days, but that's what he was.  That's what he wanted to be, and he seemed to be very happy with his life."

John died Thursday, December 13, 1995 in his home at the age of 85.  Survivors include two daughters, Ruth Lewis and Lois Berggren; one sister, Ellen Kelly; and two grandchildren.  John Darmstadt was interred in Oak Ridge Cemetery, Hillside, Illinois.

Two members of Hillside's Darmstadt family have joined a religious order:

• Sister M. Baptist, O.S.B. (Catherine Darmstadt) in 1847
• Sister M. Xavier, O.P. (Cecelia Darmstadt) in 1910

Both joined before the establishment of a local Catholic church.

The first photo is of the Darmstadt (1842) barn formerly located on Butterfield road barn as it looked many years ago.   

This second photo is a more recent one of the same structure.  Before it was removed it was nestled amongst more recent buildings, but continued to be used with the adjacent farm.  It was the last farm in the Hillside-Berkley area to go down to the developers.  John Darmstadt sold off the land, keeping the house and barn.  Shirley Slanker recalls buying bails of hay there.

The photo is from the material gathered by the late Luella Seida.

Sources used in the compilation of this entry include but are not limited to:

• "Progress, Pride, Growth, 1905 - 1980, 75^th Anniversary --Village of Hillside", C.1981 published by Village of Hillside, Hillside, IL, by Ruth Lommatzsch and Ann Hoogstra

Last Modified:  05/26/2002