Thursday, February 28, 2013
A look back at the park district's 45-year history.
The Inquiry As the Plainfield Township Park District marked its 45th anniversary, a faithful Patch reader of this column inquired about the history of the local park district. This is the final installment of a four-part series about the Plainfield Township Park District. The Facts As community needs and challenges increased, the Plainfield Township Park District commissioners realized the need for a full-time director to supervise day-to-day operations and implement long-range goals. Hired in the Spring of 1977, Ed Demarco, the first full-time director of parks and recreation, immediately was confronted with many challenges in Plainfield. In April 1977, then-Mayor Richard Selfridge began the process of including the Park District in …
Thursday, February 14, 2013
How did the park district get its start in Plainfield?
The Inquiry Recently, a Plainfield Patch reader noted that, in 2012, the Plainfield Township Park District marked its 45th anniversary. The park district explored many recreation venues for the Plainfield community as it matured into a viable local government agency. Click here to read part 1. Click here to read part 2. The Facts As a new decade unfolded, the Plainfield Township Park District entered its third full year of existence. Park commissioners laid out a plan to acquire and develop more land for public recreational use. Expansion of Park Land and Services In late 1970, the Plainfield Lions Club offered to donate a picnic shelter to be constructed at the Village Green park in downtown Plainfield. The shelter was constructed and …
Friday, January 25, 2013
A look back at the history of Plainfield parks.
The Inquiry Recently, a Plainfield Patch reader noted that, in 2012, the Plainfield Township Park District marked its 45th anniversary. On Oct. 22, 1966, voters approved the establishment of the Plainfield Township Park District. The public elected five local men as the first commissioners of the newly-formed organization. Read part one of Lambert: The Plainfield Park District The Facts The organizational meeting of the Plainfield Township Park District was held on Nov. 1, 1966. The five commissioners met in the law offices of Sam Saxon (present-day 15028 S. Des Plaines St.). Subsequent meetings were held at the village hall on Lockport Street (now demolished), Plainfield Savings & Loan (present-day J. P. Morgan Chase Bank at Illinois…
Friday, January 11, 2013
A look back at the history of Plainfield parks.
The Inquiry Recently, a Plainfield Patch reader noted that, in 2012, the Plainfield Township Park District marked its 45th anniversary. How did the Park District come into existence and what was the District’s early history? The Facts In 1858, the potential for parks to serve as relief from worsening urban conditions was realized with the design and subsequent construction of Central Park in New York. Parks were perceived as a means to encourage orderly expansion of cities. Additionally, well-planned open space appeared to improve the economic viability of the community. In larger cities and some small towns, planned parks became sources of civic pride. However, before the Civil War, most Americans did not have access to much land that …
Friday, December 28, 2012
The history behind the former Baci building on Lockport Street.
The Inquiry The former Baci Ristorante building, now owned by the Village of Plainfield, was once the local Universalist church building. A Plainfield Patch reader asked, “What was the Universalist Church? Why and when did it disappear?” Read part one on Plainfield's Universalist Society here. The Facts A 1905 history noted that, in contrast to the established Protestant teaching throughout Illinois in the mid-1830s, “Roman Catholic priests, the Mormons, preachers of Univeralism, the Millerites, lecturers on Atheism, mesmerism and phrenology” were infiltrating the states and territories west of the Appalachian Mountains by 1835. In northern Illinois at that time, the Fox River region was identified as a “stronghold of Universalism.” …
Friday, December 14, 2012
Housing churches before giving way to restaurants, a Lockport Street building was home to the Universalist Society in 19th Century Plainfield.
The Inquiry After the Village of Plainfield purchased the former Baci Ristorante building, some identified the structure as the Universalist Church. A Plainfield Patch reader asked, “What was the Universalist Church? Why and when did it disappear?” The Facts Universalism took its name from its distinguishing doctrine of universal salvation. Universalists believed that the God of love would not create a human being if that person would be destined for eternal damnation. As a form of religious liberalism, Universalists embraced the theological doctrine that all souls ultimately will be saved and that there are no torments of Hell. During the late 18th Century, Universalism developed in three distinct areas of the eastern United States. The…
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Downtown Plainfield builders are a testament to a family's innovative response to adversity.
The Inquiry A Plainfield Patch reader inquired, “What are those small buildings that were recently painted white near the Plainfield Historical Society’s depot at Lockport and Wood Farm Road?” The Facts Acquired for preservation by the Plainfield Historical Society, the two concrete structures that stand today are remnants of a local family’s tenacity and innovation in the wake of a weakened economy and scientific advancement. The unassuming buildings are remnants of the small dairy complex operated by Charles Sennitt and his sister, May, for three decades in the early 20th Century. Originally, the Sennitt’s dairy operation included a dairy barn, milkhouse, corncrib and silo adjacent to a fenced-in pasture. The original farm buildings …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
The third and final installment in the series on the Plainfield pilot and the village's ties to the beginnings of the U.S. Post Office's air mail service.
The Inquiry Is it true that the establishment of the United States Post Office’s air mail service is tied to Plainfield, Illinois? The Facts The possibility of regularly-scheduled cross-country air mail delivery was advanced following experimental “path-finding” flights in September 1918. The goal of the trial flights was to deliver mail from New York to Chicago within a single day, a faster alternative to mail delivery by train. Return Flight to New York In spite of not completing their cross-country flights in a single day, pilots Max Miller and Eddie Gardner, a Plainfield native, had proven that the New York to Chicago flight was possible…even if the east-to-west attempt was deemed only moderately successful. However, the air mail …
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Part two in the series on the Plainfield pilot and the village's ties to the beginnings of the U.S. Post Office's air mail service.
The Inquiry Is it true that the establishment of the United States Post Office’s air mail service is tied to Plainfield, Illinois? The Facts Intrigued by the delivery speed that was possible with mail transported by “aeroplane,” the United States Post Office Department, authorized its first experimental mail flight in 1911 at an aviation festival on Long Island in New York. During the next two years, the department authorized 52 experimental flights at fairs, carnivals and air meets in more than 25 states. The experimental flights convinced the department that the airplane could carry a payload of mail. Advocating the efficiency and speed of air mail service, the Post Office Department repeatedly urged Congress to appropriate funding of …
Friday, October 19, 2012
The truth about Plainfield's ties to the beginnings of air mail service.
The Inquiry Is it true that the establishment of the United States Post office’s air mail service is tied to Plainfield, Illinois? The Facts The Plainfield community has been associated with American aviation since the early days of the 20th Century. Many stories circulate about famed aviator Charles Lindbergh’s reported visits to Plainfield when he served as an early air mail pilot. However, pioneering pilot Eddie Gardner, a Plainfield-area resident until 1918, is Plainfield’s most famous connection to American aeronautical history. Born on a farm northeast of the village of Plainfield in 1888, Eddie Gardner was the third generation of the Gardner family to live here. The Gardner Family at Plainfield The Gardner family was one of the …
Michael Lambert
8:07 am on Thursday, March 14, 2013
Hello S H, Very glad you enjoyed the column while it ran. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed the many people whom I met across the country by sharing some of the lesser known aspects of Plainfield's rich history. As a result, I have heard several are including Plainfield as a stop on vacations they are planning. When you are back this way next, we should chat about your recollections… more ›