The five million acres surrounding Chicago belonged to the Pottawatomie.  The transportation "craze" of the time was for canals linking major waterways.  The idea of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, linking Lake Michigan to the Illinois River (and down the Mississippi to New Orleans), became very popular.  Unfortunately for the Native Americans the canal would cut through lands ceded to them.

In 1833, under pressure from local and federal governments, the Pottawatomie exchanged their holdings for land in Iowa and one millions dollars in goods.  Much of the 'goods' went to creditors -- a scandalously bad deal for the Native Americans deplored in many contemporary accounts.  By 1835, the vast majority of the Native Americans had moved from the Chicago area and new settlers arrived.  For the settlers this opened up a great deal of public land for their farms and homes.

Another feature which attracted settlers to the immediate area was Salt Creek.  This creek had a:

• source for clean water
• a location for hunting and trapping animals
• a navigable river especially during the spring

The area had been popular for years by the Pottawatomie and other Native Americans (See Native American  Settlements of 1804).  The early settlers and trappers of European descent also liked the benefits of Salt Creek.

For more background information see:

• America in the mid-1800's
• Lincoln and the growth of south and west of Chicago

The area's residents were mostly farmers.  People were reluctant to move to the area -- so distance from Chicago with transportation as a major problem. The stage coaches between Chicago and the western settlements passed through every two or three days along the stage line on Chicago and Dixon Road (now Odgen Avenue).  Leitch continued his development efforts.  In the early 1860's Leitch chose the name Kensington Heights for his development project, but soon after he suffered some business reverses and was forced to abort the project.

But settlers did come to the area:

• 1845 Charles G. Puscheck settled in the north of Roosevelt Road and east of Mannheim.
• Henry Evers came from Germany in 1850 and settled on a farm one block south of Roosevelt on Wolf Road.
• Henry Bohlander, the father of George, ran a harness shop in Brush Hill. George was also a harness maker and a talented violinist. Irving Porter, in the northwestern area (now Hillside), started a horse trading business on his farm during the Civil War.
• In the 1850s Fred Graue and his family were elated when they welcomed the Franzosenbusch German settlers who purchased forty acres for a school and a church on the corner of 22^nd Street and Wolf Road. These were his friends and townspeople from Hanover, Germany, and they were his new neighbors..  Ferdinand Klaas, the blacksmith, was also a postmaster. His blacksmith shop stood on the opposite corner from Thiele's trading post and general store on 22^nd Street and Wolf Road (the former the site of Lilac Lodge – now just north of the Walgreens). 
• In 1848 Nicholas Torode's saw mill was located on Salt Creek (near Fullersburg -- the general area surrounding the current intersection of Odgen Avenue and York Road).  That year Torode's saw mill burned to the ground. Not long after, Fred Graue and his partner William Asche, stood among the ashes of their saw mill located near Torode's in Brush Hill, now Hinsdale. Fred Graue vowed then to rebuild on the same spot, not a saw mill, but a grist mill constructed of brick and stone. He bought out his partner and labored for five years. Finally, in 1852, golden cornmeal, whole wheat, white or rye flour and feed for farm animals were available to the entire region. Native Americans wandered to Fred Graue's mill during maple syrup time knowing they would receive corn cakes covered with the sweet syrup.  Fred Graue's mill became one of the few authenticated Underground Railway stations in Illinois. It was managed by John S. Coe and Miller Graue who hid the runaway slaves in the mill's cellar. The old Southwest Highway, now Ogden Avenue, became the established route between Chicago, the mill and the boats to freedom. Abraham Lincoln, while in office as the State Legislator, stopped at Graue's mill for a visit while passing through to Chicago.

The construction for the 'plank' road was started by as a private venture.  A wooden 'plank' road was built along the old Chicago-Dixon route.  Its roadbed consisted of eight-foot-planks nailed to stringers on either side of the road.  By 1850 the section from Chicago to Brush Hill in Hinsdale was completed.  By 1851 the planked sections extended to Naperville and it was renamed the "Southwest Plank Road".  The total construction cost of $16,000 was recouped by charging a toll to use the road.

In 1864 the 38-mile Aurora-Chicago railroad line was completed at a cost of one million dollars.  The rail line changed its name to a more appropriate "Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad.  It was this railroad which first assigned the name "Western Springs" after the nearby mineral springs.  As with many other villages along a rail line, the railroad brought many persons to settle in the area as it carried the farmers' produce and milk.

What were the Western Springs?

There WAS a natural spring -- Alcyone Springs.  Its water were told to have great healing powers.  They had been used for a long time by local Native Americans.  It flowed at a rate of 40 gallon per minute.  Visitors used to travel from Chicago and other places to drink the spring water.  At one time the water was bottled and shipped by the "Alcyone Mineral Spring Company" via the Aurora-Chicago railroad line for consumption elsewhere.  For more about the fate of this natural spring, see The Springs of Western Springs.

In 1870 much of the land within the present boundaries of Western Springs had been purchased by a syndicate of wealthy Chicago men:

• the sons of Phillip F. W. Peck, a Chicago merchant
• William R Page, a Chicago attorney
• Thomas C. Hill, salesman and promoter, Quaker

These men purchased the tracts of land (using the name Western Springs Land Association) from:

• Ben Fuller, founder of Fullersburg (York Road and Odgen Avenue)
• David Roth
• Henry Runge

"Sensing that the railroad line from Chicago which ran through the area would make the location a viable suburban community, the landowners planned to subdivide and develop the property.  The total price of the three tracts of land was approximately $105,000.  Early records indicate that each of the four syndicate members contributed equally toward the purchase.  The Pecks, however, worked in the background.  Hill took a much more active role and acquired the title of general agent of the association....

"The Peck-Page-Hill syndicate sold 24 lots before most of the city of Chicago was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1871.  No additional lots were sold for the remainder of the year, and only 12 the following year."

The above text is from the book, "Western Springs, A Centennial History of the Village", by the Western Springs Historical Society

The map to the right reflects the approximate street layout in 1876.  East Boulevard is now Wolf Road.  North Boulevard is Odgen Avenue.  South Boulevard is 47th Street

Thomas C. Hill took up residence at 4344 Grand Avenue as he tried to lure Chicagoans away from the urban area, an act made easier by the devastation of the Great Fire.  He called this area "East Hinsdale".  Besides attracting more Quakers, Hill's advertising campaigns attract many Swedes and other settlers from Central Europe to the area.

1875 saw the "East Hinsdale" development partitioned, subdivided and given the name "Western Springs Subdivision".  The northern boundary was Odgen Avenue, the eastern boundary Wolf Road (then East Boulevard), the southern boundary South Boulevard (47^th Street).  The western boundary was much the same as the current village boundary.  (See 1920s map below.)

To the east LaGrange incorporated in June of 1879.

Despite the growth of the previous fifty years farming was still a major occupation in Western Springs.  One of the colorful characters of the late 1800s and early 1900s was Edwin C. "Uncle Ed" Fuller who owned land in the northwestern portion of the village, both north and south of Odgen Avenue.  Ed was born in Fullersburg (founded by his grandfather).  "Uncle Ed" was noted for his popular fiddle playing in the Fullersburg tavern which he managed with her father.

Marca was Ed's wife.  Their farm raised chicken, as did many Western Springs residents.  In the 1920s real estate ads featured the raising of chickens -- and growing fruit trees in one's yard -- as a virtues of the village.

The Fuller farm also raised cattle.

• In 1924 the CCFPD committed to a project on Salt Creek.  See Salt Creek Gets 6000 Dollar Dam_LaGrange Citizen_July 10 1924. 
• The County straightens Wolf Road at Odgen.  Read To Sraighten Wolf Road_LaGrange Citizen_Sep 2 1926 on the Western Springs History page.
• The pool from this project had consequences.  Read Death Trap In Preserves, LaGrange Citizen, Aug 8 1929.

The village's population tripled in the decade.

• Schools were built on Wolf Road and Franklin Avenue.
• Homes started to fill the Field Park, Ridge Acres and Forest Hills areas of the village.
• The police department was organized.
• The fire department got its first fire truck.

See also these "LaGrange Citizen" articles of the 1920s:

• Western Springs, Early History Of Village, LaGrange Citizen, Dec 1921

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Sources of information for this entry include but are not limited to:

• “Images of America – Western Springs, Illinois”, by Betsy J. Green, Arcadia Publishing

• "Western Springs -- A Centennial History of the Village, 1886 - 1986", produced by The Western Springs Historical Society

Last Modified:  12/18/2006