Welcome back to my series of posts on local history! While looking for a topic for this post, I realized that we have somehow neglected to write about the history of a Libertyville institution: Lambs Farm! Since its inception as a small pet store in the fall of 1961, Lambs Farm has made it its…
In part 1 of this series on the 1889 Union Church signature quilt, we learned about signature quilts in general, explored some of the unique characteristics of this specific quilt, and revealed the history of the Union Church. Part 2 looked at some of the Libertyville people and businesses represented by the signatures. In Part 3, we'll…
In part 1 of this series on the 1889 Union Church signature quilt, we learned about signature quilts in general, explored some of the unique characteristics of this specific quilt, and revealed the history of the Union Church. Now that the groundwork has been laid, let's turn to some of the individual squares and the Libertyville people…
For years a quilt covered the bed in the master bedroom of the Ansel B. Cook House. We knew it had something to do with the Union Church, but not much else. One day a volunteer asked if we had a list of all the signatures on it. We didn't. So several volunteers came together…
Welcome back to my somewhat belated second installment on the history of the Native American peoples of Lake County! When we left off in my last post, it was the early 1600's. In what would become Illinois, the Inoca Confederation had risen to become the most powerful tribal group, while on the East Coast of North America, French, Dutch,…
Chances are you've never heard of Samuel Insull, but his fingerprints are all over Libertyville. Stick around this town long enough and you will surely use a building or service with a history that can be drawn back to Mr. Insull. He was like a living Monopoly Man with his hands in utilities, railroads, schools,…
This second week in April is National Library Week - a time to celebrate the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians and to promote library use and support. For a special National Library Week podcast episode we interviewed some of our own librarians about what a day on the job looks like and also…
Writing a post about the Native American peoples who originally lived in the vicinity of Libertyville is something I've been meaning to do for a while, but kept putting off. This was in large part due to the fact that, unlike other topics I've posted about, there aren't many written records I can use for…
In the second installment of our profiles of World War I veterans from Libertyville, we focus on four young men all from the same family. Brothers Harold, Wendell, Clarence, and Kenneth, the sons of local druggist Frank B. Lovell, owner of the predecessor to today's Petranek's Pharmacy, all served during World War I. Front: Harold…
One of my favorite items in the collection of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society is a proposal letter from Franklin P. Dymond to Flora Colby. While it wasn't written on Valentine's Day, the sentiments conveyed hit all the right notes for the holiday. Libertyville Ill. Dec 5th 1880. My Dear Friend Flora, I presume you will…
