IF THERE'S ANY SCENE THAT EPITOMIZES CHICAGO'S NORTH SHORE, THIS IS IT.

A SUMMER NIGHT AT THE RAVINIA FESTIVAL IN HIGHLAND PARK.

WINE AND CHEESE BY CANDLE LIGHT, THE STRAINS OF THE BEETHOVEN OR ELLINGTON OR GERSHWIN DRIFTING ACROSS THE LAWN.

HISTORIAN MICHAEL EBNER CALLED THE NORTH SHORE "...A GENTEEL ENCLAVE OF AFFLUENCE, CULTURE AND HIGH SOCIETY."

I'M GEOFFREY BAER.

IN THIS PROGRAM I'LL TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF THE NORTH SHORE.

YOU'LL SEE EXAMPLES OF THE UPSCALE LIFESTYLE YOU'D EXPECT TO FIND HERE.

BUT YOU'LL ALSO SEE AND LEARN ABOUT A LOT THAT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU.

LIKE SHIPWRECKS AND A GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY, AND A NAZI PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, ALL ON THE NORTH SHORE!

YOU'LL HEAR GREAT GOSPEL MUSIC AT AN AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCH IN GLENCOE, FIND OUT WHO INVENTED THE JUNGLE GYM, AND WHY EVANSTON GAVE THE WORLD THE ICE CREAM SUNDAE.

YOU'LL MEET THE RICH AND FAMOUS, AND THE NOT-SO-FAMOUS.

YOU'LL VISIT MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR LAKEFRONT ESTATES, AND ARCHITECTURAL TREASURES LIKE THE BAHA'I HOUSE OF WORSHIP, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S PRAIRIE STYLE HOMES AND MODERN MASTERPIECES.

JOIN ME FOR A TOUR OF THE NORTH SHORE AND MORE.

ONE OF THE UNIQUE THINGS ABOUT THE RAVINIA FESTIVAL IS THAT IT HAS ITS OWN TRAIN STATION.

THAT'S ACTUALLY NOT SO SURPRISING WHEN YOU LEARN THAT A RAILROAD CREATED RAVINIA PARK AS A WAY TO BUILD RIDERSHIP.

IN MANY WAYS, THE ENTIRE NORTH SHORE AS WE KNOW IT TODAY IS A CREATION OF THE RAILROADS.

THE FIRST RAILROAD ON THE NORTH SHORE OPENED FOR BUSINESS IN 1855.

IT WAS THE CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE, LATER CALLED THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN.

IT TRANSFORMED THE JOURNEY BETWEEN CHICAGO AND WAUKEGAN FROM A SLOW, BUMPY STAGECOACH RIDE TAKING A DAY OR MORE INTO A RELATIVELY COMFORTABLE TWO-HOUR TRIP.

IT WAS THE INDUSTRIAL AGE AND BOOMTOWN CHICAGO, LIKE 19TH CENTURY INDUSTRIAL TOWNS EVERYWHERE WAS BECOMING CROWDED AND FILTHY AND DANGEROUS.

MANY PEOPLE WERE READY TO ESCAPE.

THE RAILROAD GAVE THEM AN EASY WAY TO DO SO.

IT WAS THE BIRTH OF TODAY'S NORTH SHORE.

THE ENTIRE NORTH SHORE AND THE CITY OF CHICAGO WERE ALMOST IN WISCONSIN!

BUT WHEN ILLINOIS WAS GRANTED STATEHOOD IN 1818, THE BORDER WAS MOVED 62½ MILES NORTH SO THE NEW STATE COULD HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF LAKE MICHIGAN SHORELINE.

WE'LL START OUR TOUR UP NEAR THE WISCONSIN BORDER AT ILLINOIS BEACH STATE PARK WHERE THE LAKEFRONT STILL LOOKS THE WAY IT DID CENTURIES BEFORE HUMANS SETTLED HERE.

WE'LL WORK OUR WAY SOUTH, EXPLORING THE LAKESHORE SUBURBS AND THE SUBURBS THAT BORDER THEM TO THE WEST.

WE'LL END OUR TOUR AT THE EDGE OF CHICAGO IN EVANSTON.

HERE AT ILLINOIS BEACH STATE PARK IN ZION, YOU CAN STILL SEE THE NORTH SHORE THE NATIVE AMERICANS KNEW FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEFORE WHITE SETTLERS ARRIVED.

LOW DUNES... SANDY OAK SAVANNAS... MARSHLANDS.

IN THE 1890S THE ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD ESTABLISHED CAMP LOGAN HERE.

MILITARY MARKSMEN TRAINED ON THE RIFLE RANGES FOR 80 YEARS.

FBI SHARPSHOOTERS TRAINED HERE UNTIL THE 1970S.

TODAY THE CAMP LOGAN IS GONE WITHOUT A TRACE, REPLACED BY THE NATIVE TERRAIN AS THE ILLINOIS INDIANS KNEW IT IN 1673 WHEN THE FIRST EXPLORERS ARRIVED.

EXPLORER LOUIS JOLIET AND FATHER JACQUES MARQUETTE, A JESUIT PRIEST, WERE TAKING A SHORTCUT HOME TO NORTHERN MICHIGAN AND CANADA AFTER A SUCCESSFUL JOURNEY TO EXPLORE THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS, THE NORTH SHORE AREA WAS FREQUENTED BY FRENCH CANADIAN FUR TRADERS DOING BUSINESS WITH THE NATIVE AMERICANS.

BY THE TIME THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SET UP FORT DEARBORN, AT THE MOUTH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER IN 1803, THE ILLINOIS INDIANS WERE GONE AND THE POTAWATOMI DOMINATED THE REGION INCLUDING THE NORTH SHORE.

BUT A TREATY SIGNED IN 1833 BANISHED NATIVE AMERICANS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.

ACCORDING TO THE TREATY, THE GOVERNMENT PAID 14½ CENT AN ACRE FOR 5 MILLION ACRES.

THEY THEN SOLD THAT LAND TO SETTLERS FOR $1.25 AN ACRE IN 40 ACRE PARCELS.

NOW SETTLERS WEREN'T LEGALLY ALLOWED TO MOVE TO THE NORTH SHORE UNTIL 1836.

BUT THERE WERE SCATTERED SETTLEMENTS HERE BEFORE THAT.

ONE OF THE OLDEST WAS LITTLE FORT.

TODAY WE KNOW IT AS WAUKEGAN.

IT STARTED IN 1695 AS A FRENCH TRADING POST!

BY THE EARLY 1800S, LITTLE FORT WAS A SMALL, BUSTLING INDUSTRIAL TOWN.

LAKE COUNTY WAS FORMED FROM MCHENRY IN 1839.

JUST A YEAR AFTER THAT, AMBITIOUS LITTLE FORT SNATCHED THE TITLE OF COUNTY SEAT AWAY FROM LIBERTYVILLE, WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS CALLED INDEPENDENCE GROVE, THANKS IN PART TO A POSSIBLY EXAGGERATED CENSUS TAKEN BY A LITTLE FORT BOOSTER, NAMED CAPTAIN ROBINSON.

WITHIN 10 YEARS THE POPULATION BOOMED TO 2400.

SINCE LITTLE FORT WAS NO LONGER "LITTLE", IT CHANGED ITS NAME TO WAUKEGAN, THE POTAWATOMI WORD FOR "FORT" OR "TRADING POST."

WAUKEGAN SERVED AS A PORT CITY, SHIPPING FARM PRODUCTS TO CHICAGO.

REMEMBER, THIS WAS IN THE DAYS BEFORE THERE WAS AN EASY OVERLAND ROUTE TO THE CITY.

BUT, THAT WOULD CHANGE SOON ENOUGH.

THE MORNING OF JANUARY 13TH 1855 WAS COLD AND DREARY.

BUT SPIRITS WERE HIGH IN WAUKEGAN.

THE LARGEST CROWD IN THE CITY'S HISTORY ASSEMBLED FOR THE OPENING OF THE CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE RAILROAD.

CHICAGO MAYOR LEVI BOONE WAS ON HAND.

THE PRESIDENT OF THE RAILROAD WAS WALTER GURNEE, HIMSELF A FORMER CHICAGO MAYOR, HE WAS ABOUT TO MAKE ONE OF THE FIRST FORTUNES IN NORTH SHORE REAL ESTATE.

YOU SEE HE LOCATED THE TRAIN STATIONS ADJACENT TO LAND HE OWNED ALL UP AND DOWN THE NORTH SHORE.

GURNEE'S PROPERTY BECAME LAKE BLUFF, HIGHLAND PARK, GLENCOE AND WINNETKA.

GURNEE CAME TO CHICAGO IN 1836 FROM HAVERSTAW, NEW YORK, WHERE HIS FATHER WAS A WEALTHY TANNER.

HERE HE ESTABLISHED THE HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL CHICAGO HIDE AND LEATHER COMPANY.

THEN HE STARTED BUYING LAND.

GURNEE FOUND HIMSELF AT ODDS WITH EXECUTIVES OF HIS OWN RAILROAD.

HE HAD A VISION OF BEDROOM COMMUNITIES ALL UP AND DOWN THE NORTH SHORE SERVED BY COMMUTER TRAINS WHICH WOULD TAKE PASSENGERS TO AND FROM THE CITY EVERY DAY.

HIS COLLEAGUES THOUGHT THE MONEY WAS IN HAULING FREIGHT.

AFTER ALL, THESE BEDROOM COMMUNITIES ONLY EXISTED IN GURNEE'S IMAGINATION.

IN THE END, THEY OVERRULED THEIR BOSS, AND RAN FREIGHT TRAINS.

THAT ACTUALLY WORKED TO WAUKEGAN'S ADVANTAGE.

THE TOWN WAS TOO FAR FROM CHICAGO TO BE CONSIDERED A SUBURB.

FREIGHT TRAINS HELPED IT CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AS A REGIONAL INDUSTRIAL TOWN.

WAUKEGAN STRUGGLED WITH DECLINING INDUSTRY STARTING IN THE 1970S.

BUT IT'S STILL A BLUE-COLLAR TOWN, WITH DREAMS OF REVITALIZING ITS DOWNTOWN.

THE DIVERSE POPULATION IS ABOUT A THIRD HISPANIC, A THIRD WHITE AND 20 PERCENT AFRICAN AMERICAN.

JACK BENNY IS WAUKEGAN'S MOST FAMOUS NATIVE SON.

HE WAS BORN BENJAMIN KUBELSKY IN 1894.

HE DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL TO PLAY VIOLIN IN VAUDEVILLE SHOWS.

AUTHOR RAY BRADBURY WAS BORN IN WAUKEGAN IN 1920.

HE REVOLUTIONIZED SCIENCE FICTION BY FOCUSING MORE ON HUMANS THAN HARDWARE.

HIS BEST KNOWN WORKS ARE THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES AND FAHRENHEIT 451.

WALTER GURNEE MAY HAVE BEEN THE FATHER OF THE NORTH SHORE.

BUT TO FIND A PLACE THAT'S NAMED FOR HIM YOU HAVE TO LEAVE THE SHORE AND GO ABOUT 5 MILES WEST.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE GO THERE EVERY YEAR.

BUT NOT TO LEARN ABOUT WALTER GURNEE.

GURNEE ILLINOIS IS HOME TO NOT ONE BUT TWO OF THE BIGGEST TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THE STATE.

ONE OF THEM IS SIX FLAGS GREAT AMERICA.

I'LL TELL YOU WHAT THE OTHER ONE IS IN A MINUTE.

BUT FIRST SOME FACTS ABOUT GREAT AMERICA.

IT COVERS 300-ACRES.

IT'S DESIGNER WAS A HOLLYWOOD ART DIRECTOR NAMED RANDALL DUELL WHO CREATED THE SCENERY FOR SUCH FILMS AS "SINGING IN THE RAIN" AND "BLACKBOARD JUNGLE".

THE TRADEMARK DOUBLE-DECK COLUMBIA CAROUSEL IS THE LARGEST AND MOST EXPENSIVE CAROUSEL EVER BUILT.

THE PARK OPENED WITH THREE ROLLER COASTERS.

IT NOW HAS 12.

MANY SET RECORDS WHEN THEY WERE BUILT.

BUT YOU HAVE TO BE A TRUE AFICIONADO TO UNDERSTAND THEM.

FOR EXAMPLE, BATMAN FROM 1992 WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST INVERTED OUTSIDE-LOOPING ROLLER COASTER.

RAGING BULL FROM 1999 WAS THE WORLD'S FIRST HYPER-TWISTER ROLLER COASTER.

VERTICAL VELOCITY, WHICH OPENED IN 2001, USES LINEAR INDUCTION MOTORS TO LAUNCH RIDERS OUT OF THE STATION AT 70 MILES AN HOUR.

PARK EMPLOYEES HAVE RETRIEVED DENTURES, HEARING AIDS AND ARTIFICIAL LIMBS FROM UNDERNEATH THIS ONE.

A FAMILY OF FOUR CAN EASILY SPEND MORE THAN $200 ON A DAY AT GREAT AMERICA.

IF YOU HAVE SOME MONEY LEFT TO BURN, YOU CAN HEAD TO GURNEE'S OTHER BIG ATTRACTION, GURNEE MILLS.

THE MALL CLAIMS TO HAVE DRAWN ALMOST 24 MILLION PEOPLE IN 2001, WHICH WOULD MAKE IT THE ILLINOIS' NUMBER ONE TOURIST ATTRACTION.

THE DESIGN REFLECTS THE RURAL MIDWEST.

THE ENTRANCES WERE INSPIRED BY SILOS.

MOTHER RUDD'S TAVERN WAS BUILT MORE THAN A CENTURY BEFORE NEARBY GREAT AMERICA AND GURNEE MILLS, BUT IT WAS LOCATED HERE FOR THE SAME REASON, BECAUSE THIS OLD COUNTRY CROSSROADS WAS ABOUT HALFWAY BETWEEN CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE.

STAGECOACH SERVICE TO WISCONSIN BEGAN IN 1836 WITH THE OUSTER OF THE INDIANS.

INNS LIKE THIS ONE SPRANG UP ALL OVER THE NORTH SHORE TO SERVE ROAD-WEARY TRAVELERS ON THE LONG JOURNEY BETWEEN CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE.

AROUND THE TIME OF THE CIVIL WAR, THE MOTHER RUDD HOUSE BECAME A STOP ON THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD, HELPING ESCAPED SLAVES TO FIND THEIR WAY TO FREEDOM IN CANADA.

NOW LET'S GO BACK TO THE LAKEFRONT AND FIND THE PLACE WHERE BANDLEADER JOHN PHILLIP SOUSA LED OUTDOOR CONCERTS.

NO, IT'S NOT RAVINIA.

SOUSA WAS THE BANDLEADER AT GREAT LAKES NAVAL TRAINING STATION.

HE LED 14 DIFFERENT BANDS TOTALING 1500 MUSICIANS.

THOUSANDS OF NORTH SHORE AND CHICAGO RESIDENTS CAME TO HIS CONCERTS AT ROSS FIELD.

WITH THE CLOSING OF FORT SHERIDAN AND GLENVIEW NAVAL AIR STATION, GREAT LAKES IS THE LAST OPERATING MILITARY BASE ON THE NORTH SHORE.

AND WHAT AN OPERATION IT IS!

IT'S THE NAVY'S LARGEST TRAINING CENTER, AND ITS THIRD LARGEST BASE.

IT'S ALSO THE LARGEST MILITARY INSTALLATION IN ILLINOIS.

THIS IS WHERE NAVY RECRUITS GO TO BOOT CAMP.

IT OPENED IN 1911.

WORLD WAR I BROKE OUT JUST 3 YEARS LATER.

BY THE END OF THE WAR, 125,000 SAILORS HAD BEEN TRAINED AT GREAT LAKES.

THE BASE WAS A BOON TO THE SMALL INDUSTRIAL SUBURB OF NORTH CHICAGO, WHICH ESTABLISHED A SALOON DISTRICT TO SERVE RECRUITS, DESPITE THE TOWN'S OFFICIAL MOTTO OF "NO SALOONS."

THE ROMANESQUE AND ITALIAN RENAISSANCE STYLE BUILDINGS ARE NOW LANDMARKED.

CHICAGO ARCHITECT JARVIS HUNT DESIGNED THEM.

GREAT LAKES BROKE THE NAVY'S COLOR BARRIER IN 1944 BY TRAINING AND COMMISSIONING THE FIRST 13 AFRICAN AMERICAN NAVAL OFFICERS.

A BUILDING ON THE BASE WAS DEDICATED TO THEM IN 1987.

ONE REASON NORTH CHICAGO BECAME THE HOME OF GREAT LAKES NAVAL BASE IS BECAUSE LAKE BLUFF DIDN'T WANT IT.

ROWDY SAILORS JUST DIDN'T FIT WITH THE TOWN'S ORIGINS AS A FAMILY-ORIENTED SUMMER RESORT.

METHODIST MINISTERS FOUNDED THE LAKE BLUFF CAMP IN 1875 IN THE SMALL TOWN OF ROCKLAND, WHERE WALTER GURNEE HAD TRIED AND FAILED TO DEVELOP A RAILROAD SUBURB.

LAKE BLUFF WAS BILLED AS A CHRISTIAN CAMP FREE OF ALCOHOL AND GAMBLING.

FAMILIES COULD STAY IN TENTS, COTTAGES OR HOTELS, BREATHE FRESH LAKEFRONT AIR AND ATTEND CULTURAL MEETINGS MODELED ON THE FAMOUS CHAUTAUQUA CAMP IN WESTERN NEW YORK STATE.

TURNS OUT THE CAMP'S FOUNDERS HAD BETTER LUCK THAN WALTER GURNEE WHEN IT CAME TO DEVELOPING THE LAND HERE.

THEY SOLD LOTS AND EVEN BUILT COTTAGES TO FINANCE THEIR CAMP.

A FEW SURVIVE TODAY.

MEATPACKER GUSTAVUS SWIFT BUILT TWO SUMMER COTTAGES HERE.

YEARS LATER, PHILIP DANFORTH ARMOUR III, THE GRANDSON OF SWIFT'S RIVAL, BUILT THIS 60-ROOM ENGLISH MANOR HOUSE CALLED TANGLY OAKS ON 200 ACRES.

THE FAMILY OF FOUR HAD 26 SERVANTS AND 15 BATHROOMS.

TODAY TANGLY OAKS IS THE INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF PATERNO WINE COMPANY.

ANOTHER ARMOUR GRANDSON, LESTER COMMISSIONED ARCHITECT DAVID ADLER TO DESIGN THIS LAKE BLUFF MANSION ON 72 LAKEFRONT ACRES.

ADLER WAS A FAVORITE ARCHITECT OF CHICAGO'S UPPER CLASSES.

HE WAS ADEPT AT CREATING ANY HISTORICAL STYLE HIS CLIENT WANTED.

THIS IS ONE OF HIS FEW COLONIAL STYLE HOMES.

YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE IT AS THE HOUSE USED IN ROBERT ALTMAN'S FILM "A WEDDING."

ADLER'S BUILT HIS OWN COUNTRY HOME IN LIBERTYVILLE.

TODAY IT'S THE DAVID ADLER CULTURAL CENTER.

LAKE BLUFF HAD GROWN INTO A FULL-FLEDGED COMMUTER SUBURB BY THE TIME THE CAMP CLOSED AROUND 1900.

BUT IT RETAINED A MODEST MIDWESTERN CHARACTER COMPARED WITH SOME OTHER NORTH SHORE COMMUNITIES.

FOR EXAMPLE, LAKE BLUFF'S LAWN MOWER DRILL TEAM PROBABLY WOULDN'T CUT IT IN LAKE FOREST.

BUT, ALL MODESTY ASIDE, THE LARGEST SINGLE PIECE OF LAKEFRONT PROPERTY ON THE NORTH SHORE IS IN LAKE BLUFF.

AN ESTATE ON 22 ACRES.

IN 2002, IT WENT ON THE MARKET FOR A NEW RECORD ASKING PRICE OF $25 MILLION.

ONE OF THE LARGEST TRAIN ROBBERIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY HAPPENDED JUST A FEW MILES WEST OF LAKE BLUFF HERE IN TINY RONDOUT.

THE MASTERMIND WAS A CORRUPT CHICAGO POSTAL INSPECTOR NAMED WILLIAM FAHY.

HE RECRUITED A COUPLE OF CHICAGO GANGSTERS AND THE NEWTON BROTHERS FROM TEXAS.

THEY'D ROBBED MORE THAN 80 BANKS WITHOUT EVER FIRING A SHOT.

ON JUNE 14, 1924, TWO OF THE GANG PUT ON RAILROAD WORKER'S OVERALLS AND SLIPPED ABOARD A TRAIN THAT WAS CARRYING $3 MILLION AS IT LEFT UNION STATION IN CHICAGO.

WHEN THE TRAIN GOT HERE TO RONDOUT, THE BANDITS PULLED THEIR GUNS AND FORCED THE ENGINEER TO STOP.

THE REST OF THE GANG WAS WAITING NEARBY IN CARS.

THEY SUBDUED THE GUARDS WITH FORMALDEHYDE.

BUT IN THE DARKNESS, ONE OF THE CHICAGO GANGSTERS CONFUSED DOCK NEWTON FOR A MEMBER OF THE TRAIN CREW AND SHOT HIM FIVE TIMES.

THE NEWTON BOYS RUSHED THEIR WOUNDED BROTHER TO A DOCTOR IN CHICAGO WHO TREATED HIM BUT THEN TOLD POLICE.

SOON THE WHOLE GANG WAS ARRESTED.

ALL SERVED TIME.

THE STIFFEST SENTENCE WENT TO FAHY WHO GOT 25 YEARS.

THE NEWTON BOYS CLAIMED THEY NEVER GOT A DIME FROM THE HEIST, BUT $100,000 OF THE MORE THAN $2 MILLION STOLEN WERE NEVER RECOVERED.

JUST WEST OF RONDOUT IS LAMBS FARM IN LIBERTYVILLE.

A WORKPLACE, RESIDENCE AND SOCIAL COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN 250 ADULTS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES.

IT STARTED AS A PET SHOP IN CHICAGO WITH 12 EMPLOYEES.

FOUNDERS CORINNE OWEN AND ROBERT TERESE WANTED TO CREATE AN ALTERNATIVE TO TRADITIONAL SHELTERED WORKSHOPS.

TODAY, LAMBS FARM HAS A PETTING ZOO, HAYRIDES, MINIATURE GOLF AND A RESTAURANT.

PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS FARM ON THE NORTH SHORE WAS LOCATED A LITTLE WEST OF HERE, HAWTHORNE-MELLODY FARM.

A GENERATION OF NORTH SHORE KIDS REMEMBERS TAKING FIELD TRIPS THERE TO SEE THE WORKING DAIRY OPERATION.

HAWTHORNE-MELLODY MILK TRUCKS WERE UBIQUITOUS ON THE NORTH SHORE.

TODAY THE FARM IS GONE, REPLACED BY SPRAWLING SUBDIVISIONS AND HAWTHRONE MALL.

BUT THE FARMHOUSE IS STILL THERE, AND IT MAY BE THE FANCIEST FARMHOUSE EVER BUILT.

IT'S NOW A MUSEUM CALLED THE CUNEO HOME AFTER ITS LAST PRIVATE OWNER, JOHN F. CUNEO.

HE WAS A GENTLEMAN FARMER, PHILANTHROPIST AND FOUNDER OF THE CUNEO PRESS.

ARCHITECT BENJAMIN MARSHALL DESIGNED THIS 30-ROOM MANSION IN 1914.

MARSHALL WAS HIMSELF A CHICAGO SOCIALITE.

HE CREATED THE DRAKE AND EDGEWATER BEACH HOTELS AND SWANKY APARTMENT TOWERS FOR CHICAGO'S ELITE.

THE MANSION IS A VENETIAN STYLE FANTASY, FEATURING A SKYLIT GREAT HALL WITH A GRAND STAIRCASE.

THERE ARE TWO FORMAL DINING ROOMS, A PRIVATE CHAPEL AND AN INDOOR POOL WITH MARBLE WALLS.

THE 75-ACRE GROUNDS INCLUDE A LAKE, FORMAL GARDENS WITH FOUNTAINS AND STATUARY, A CONSERVATORY AND A PRIVATE 9-HOLE GOLF COURSE.

THE PLACE LOOKS LIKE IT WAS BUILT FOR ROYALTY.

BUT IN FACT IT WAS BUILT FOR SAMUEL INSULL.

INSULL WAS BORN IN ENGLAND, BUT HE WAS THAT PECULIARLY AMERICAN KIND OF ROYALTY, A CROWN PRINCE OF CAPITALISM.

LIKE THE DOT COM MILLIONAIRES OF THE 1990S, SAMUEL INSULL MADE HIS FORTUNE IN A NEW-FANGLED TECHNOLOGY, ELECTRICITY.

AND LIKE A 21ST CENTURY CORPORATE SCANDAL, HE OVEREXTENDED HIS EMPIRE AND IT COLLAPSED.

INSULL WAS BORN IN LONDON, 1859.

HIS BOYHOOD IDOL WAS THOMAS EDISON.

EDISON LAUNCHED INSULL'S CAREER BY HIRING HIM AS HIS PERSONAL SECRETARY AFTER INSULL MOVED TO AMERICA AT AGE 22.

BY 1892, HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE CHICAGO EDISON COMPANY.

HE RESCUED THAT STRUGGLING COMPANY BY BUYING UP ALL OF ITS COMPETITORS AND CREATING COMMONWEALTH EDISON, WHICH SUPPLIED ALL OF CHICAGO'S ELECTRICITY.

HE ALSO BOUGHT AND CONSOLIDATED ALL OF CHICAGO'S "L" LINES.

HE SHUT DOWN THEIR POWER PLANTS AND TURNED THEM INTO COMMONWEALTH EDISON CUSTOMERS.

IT WAS A BRILLIANT SCHEME, AND INSULL REPEATED IT ACROSS THE MIDWEST, CONSOLIDATING HUNDREDS OF ELECTRIC COMPANIES AND TROLLEY LINES.

HERE'S WHERE HIS CONNECTION TO THE NORTH SHORE BEGINS.

IN 1916, INSULL BOUGHT A STRUGGLING TROLLY LINE THAT RAN BETWEEN WAUKEGAN AND EVANSTON AND RE-NAMED IT THE NORTH SHORE LINE.

WITHIN TWO YEARS INSULL INTRODUCED DIRECT SERVICE FROM CHICAGO ALL THE WAY TO MILWAUKEE.

HE HIRED ARTISTS TO CREATE GLAMOROUS ADVERTISING POSTERS, AND PIPED OPERA MUSIC INTO THE CARS BY RADIO.

BUT TRAVELING TO MILWAUKEE THROUGH SUBURBAN STREETS WAS SLOW.

SO INSULL BOUGHT UP VACANT LAND IN THE SKOKIE VALLEY TO THE WEST AND BUILT A SECOND ROUTE.

THAT LINE, GREATLY REDUCED THE TRAVEL TIME TO MILWAUKEE.

BUT IT WASN'T THE RIDERS THAT INSULL WAS INTERESTED IN.

IN HIS MEMOIR, INSULL WROTE THAT INTERURBAN ELECTRIC TRAINS WERE ACQUIRED TO "DEVELOP THE RURAL COUNTRYSIDE INTO POPULATED SUBURBS, WHICH WOULD NEED TO BE SUPPLIED WITH ELECTRIC POWER."

INSULL RAN THE POWER LINES ALONG HIS OWN SKOKIE VALLEY RIGHT-OF-WAY.

THEY'RE STILL THERE TODAY.

THE DEPRESSION RUINED SAMUEL INSULL.

HIS EMPIRE HAD BEEN FINANCED BY SCORES OF MOM AND POP INVESTORS ALL OVER THE MIDWEST.

THEY SAW THEIR LIFE SAVINGS WIPED OUT.

INSULL BECAME A DESPISED FIGURE, SORT OF A SCAPEGOAT FOR THE DEPRESSION.

HE FLED TO PARIS, THEN GREECE.

EVENTUALLY HE WAS ARRESTED AT SEA AND RETURNED TO CHICAGO TO STAND TRIAL.

AFTER ALL THAT, HE WAS ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES.

INAULL RETIRED TO PARIS, WHERE HE DIED OF A HEART ATTACK ON A SUBWAY PLATFORM IN 1938.

THE NORTH SHORE LINE LIVED ON UNTIL INTERSTATE HIGHWAYS FINALLY PUT IT OUT OF BUSINESS IN 1963.

THE OLD SPANISH STYLE STATIONS WERE TORN DOWN OR REMODELED FOR OTHER USES.

THE TRACKS ARE GONE AND IN MANY PLACES THE OLD TRAIN LINE IS NOW A BIKE PATH.

UNLIKE SAMUEL INSULL MOST OF THE NORTH SHORE ARISTOCRACY LIVED CLOSE TO THE LAKE.

PERHAPS THE MOST ARISTOCRATIC OF ALL THE LAKEFRONT SUBURBS WAS LAKE FOREST.

NO LESS AN AUTHORITY THAN F. SCOTT FITZGERALD PUT LAKE FOREST IN THE SAME LEAGUE WITH THE NEWPORT, SOUTHAMPTON AND PALM BEACH.

FITZGERALD MADE SEVERAL VISITS TO LAKE FOREST TO COURT A LOCAL DEBUTANTE NAMED GINEVRA KING.

SHE SPURNED HIM IN REAL LIFE, SO HE CAPTURED HER IN HIS NOVEL "THE GREAT GATSBY" WHERE SHE APPEARS AS DAISY BUCHANAN.

LAKE FOREST'S FIRST MILLIONAIRES WERE PURITANICAL PROTESTANTS WITH NEW ENGLAND ROOTS.

EDITH ROCKEFELLER, DAUGHTER OF AMERICA'S RICHEST MAN, MARRIED HAROLD MCCORMICK, SON OF THE FAMOUS FARM IMPLEMENT MAKER.

THEY BUILT VILLA TURRICAM.

AMERICA'S SECOND RICHEST MAN, CHICAGO MEATPACKING HEIR J. OGDEN ARMOUR BUILT MELLODY FARM ON A THOUSAND ACRES IN LAKE FOREST.

THE DRIVEWAY WAS TWO MILES LONG.

TODAY IT'S LAKE FOREST ACADEMY.

THIS ENORMOUS LAKEFRONT ESTATE WAS A WEDDING GIFT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF MARSHALL FIELDS, JOHN G. SHEDD TO HIS DAUGHTER LAURA IN 1915.

SHE MARRIED A BANKER NAMED CHARLES SCHWEPPE.

THE U.S.

AMBASSADOR TO CUBA, NOBEL BRANDON JUDAH, MODELED HIS HOUSE ON A FRENCH-NORMAN COUNTRY INN.

DAVID ADLER DESIGNED THIS GREEK REVIVAL HOUSE A FOR NEWLYWED COUPLE.

THE GROOM'S FATHER WAS A.B.

DICK OF LAKE FOREST WHO INVENTED THE MIMEOGRAPH MACHINE.

HE STUMBLED ON THE IDEA IN 1884 WHILE HE WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH WAXED PAPER, AND WENT INTO BUSINESS WITH THOMAS EDISON.

ONWENTSIA COUNTRY CLUB WAS THE NORTH SHORE'S MOST EXCLUSIVE.

IT HOSTED NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS, POLO MATCHES, HORSE SHOWS, STEEPLECHASES AND HUNTS.

AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE WAS MR. T. THE STAR OF THE 80S TVHOW "THE A TEAM" BOUGHT "TWIN GABLES," WHICH DAVID ADLER HAD DESIGNED FOR LAURENCE ARMOUR, AND OVER A TWO-WEEKS PERIOD IN THE SPRING OF 1987 DEFORESTED THE 7-ACRE PROPERTY.

MR. T OFTEN WIELDED THE CHAINSAW HIMSELF, CUTTING DOWN MORE THAN A HUNDRED OAKS, MAPLES AND PINE TREES.

THE LOCAL PAPER CALLED IT BUTCHERY AND NEIGHBORS USED WORDS LIKE DESECRATION.

THE ACTOR TOLD REPORTERS HE WAS ALLERGIC TO TREES.

THANKS TO MR. T., YOU CAN'T CUT DOWN A TREE ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY IN LAKE FOREST TODAY WITHOUT A CITY PERMIT.

MR. T. NO LONGER LIVES IN LAKE FOREST.

THE HOME'S PRESENT OWNER PLANS TO REPLANT THE TREES.

FOR ALL ITS EXCLUSIVITY, LAKE FOREST HAD MODEST BEGINNINGS AS A COLLEGE TOWN.

PRESBYTERIAN MINISTERS ESTABLISHED LIND UNIVERSITY HERE IN THE 1850S, NAMED FOR THE SCHOOL'S BENEFACTOR, SYLVESTER LIND.

HE WAS ACTUALLY THE MINISTERS' SECOND CHOICE.

THEY TURNED DOWN MONEY FROM THEIR ORIGINAL BENEFACTOR AFTER DISCOVERING HE MADE HIS FORTUNE DISTILLING WHISKEY IN CINCINNATI.

LIND UNIVERSITY EVENTUALLY BECAME LAKE FOREST COLLEGE.

THE MINISTERS ALSO RATHER UNCREATIVELY NAMED THE TOWN AFTER THE FOREST TO THE WEST AND THE LAKE TO THE EAST AND HIRED A ST. LOUIS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT NAMED ALMERIN HOTCHKISS TO LAY OUT THE TOWN.

LIKE THE PLANNERS OF OTHER NORTH SHORE SUBURBS, HOTCHKISS CHOSE TO FOLLOW THE NATURAL CONTOURS OF THE RAVINES AND FORESTS CREATING ROADS THAT WIND THROUGH TOWN WITH WHAT THE MICHELIN GUIDE TO CHICAGO CALLS "CALCULATED LEISURE".

LIKE ANYONE ELSE, PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN MANSIONS NEEDED HARDWARE AND GROCERIES.

TO SERVE THOSE MORE MUNDANE NEEDS, A WORKING CLASS AREA GREW UP ALONG THE RAILROAD TRACKS IN LAKE FOREST.

SOME OF THE BUSINESSES WERE OWNED BY AFRICAN AMERICANS, LIKE SAMUEL DENT'S LIVERY SERVICE.

LAKE FOREST'S PRESENT-DAY FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE AFRICAN AMERICANS WHO WORKED AS LOCAL MERCHANTS AS WELL AS LIVE-IN SERVANTS ON THE ESTATES.

LAKE FOREST IS ABOUT AS FAR AS YOU CAN GET FROM MIDDLE CLASS SUBURBIA, SO ITS INTERESTING THAT ONE OF THE CLICHES OF SUBURBAN LIFE, THE SHOPPING CENTER, WAS ARGUABLY INVENTED HERE IN 1916.

IF ONLY TODAY'S SHOPPING CENTERS LOOKED LIKE THIS!

HOWARD VAN DOREN SHAW DESIGNED MARKET SQUARE.

HE WAS ALREADY A SUCCESSFUL AND RESPECTED ARCHITECT WHEN HE WAS HIRED TO TRANSFORM THE UNGLAMOROUS AREA AROUND THE LAKE FOREST TRAIN STATION.

ACCORDING TO AUTHORS ARTHUR H. MILLER AND SHIRLEY M. PADDOCK IT WAS FIRST-EVER TOWN CENTER DESIGNED AROUND THE AUTOMOBILE.

CRITICS RAVED ABOUT THE UNDERSTATED DESIGN, THAT MIXED TUDOR, ARTS AND CRAFTS, AND NEO-CLASSICAL ELEMENTS.

THE INNOVATIVE PLAN RESEMBLED AN ENGLISH TOWN MARKET.

SHAW BUILT HIS OWN HOME IN LAKE FOREST.

HE CALLED IT "RAGDALE."

THE ARTS AND CRAFTS STYLE DESIGN REFLECTS HIS LOVE OF NATURE.

TODAY IT'S AN ARTIST'S RETREAT, FOUNDED BY SHAW'S GRANDDAUGHTER.

THE MONSTERS OF THE MIDWAY WOULD SEEM AN ODD FIT IN POLITE LAKE FOREST.

BUT THE CHICAGO BEARS HAVE MADE THEIR HOME HERE SINCE 1979.

THEIR NEW HALAS HALL AND PRISTINE PRACTICE FACILITY OPENED IN 1997.

IT'S NAMED FOR BEARS FOUNDER AND LEGENDARY HEAD COACH GEORGE HALAS.

ASTRONAUT JIM LOVELL LIVES IN LAKE FOREST.

HE COMMANDED THE ILL-FATED APOLLO 13 MISSION.

TOM HANKS PLAYED HIM IN THE MOVIE.

LOVELL FLEW A TOTAL OF FOUR SPACE MISSIONS, INCLUDING THE FIRST JOURNEY TO LEAVE THE EARTH'S GRAVITY AND ORBIT THE MOON, APOLLO 8.

AFTER LEAVING THE SPACE PROGRAM, LOVELL BECAME A BUSINESS EXECUTIVE AND LAKE FOREST RESTAURANTEUR.

JUST SOUTH OF LAKE FOREST IS THE FIRST NEW COMMUNITY TO BE BUILT ON THE NORTH SHORE IN A HUNDRED YEARS.

FORT SHERIDAN, DEVELOPED WITH NOT A LITTLE CONTROVERSY AFTER THE BASE CLOSED IN 1993.

EACH TOWN BORDERING FORT SHERIDAN WAS INTERESTED IN HOW THE LAND WOULD DEVELOP AND WHO WOULD GET THE LUCRATIVE TAX REVENUES.

LAKE FOREST BOWED OUT OF THE DEAL AFTER BEING ASSURED THAT THE LAND ON ITS BORDER WOULD BECOME PROPERTY OF THE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT, INCLUDING 190 ACRES FOR A GOLF COURSE, AND THE LAKEFRONT BLUFFS.

HIGHLAND PARK AND HIGHWOOD SPLIT THE REST BETWEEN THEM.

THEY SET STRICT ZONING AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION STANDARDS, TO PROTECT THE 145-ACRE NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK DISTRICT ON THE GROUNDS.

LAKEFRONT OFFICERS' HOUSES WERE RESTORED.

BARRACKS BECAME CONDOS.

THE STABLES ARE NOW TOWNHOMES.

FORT SHERIDAN HOME PRICES RANGE FROM $220,000 TO $2 MILLION.

THE HISTORY OF FORT SHERIDAN CAN BE TRACED TO THE HAYMARKET RIOT OF 1886.

IT WAS A TIME OF TREMENDOUS LABOR UNREST IN CHICAGO.

AFTER THE RIOT, NERVOUS CHICAGO INDUSTRIALISTS CALLED IN THE ARMY FOR PROTECTION.

AND THEY WERE SHOCKED TO FIND OUT THE NEAREST TROOPS WERE IN FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS.

BUSINESS LEADERS WANTED A PERMANENT MILITARY PRESENCE CLOSER TO CHICAGO.

THE ELITE COMMERCIAL CLUB OF CHICAGO BOUGHT THE LAND AND DONATED IT TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.

THE FIRST REGIMENT ARRIVED AT THE FORT ON NOV. 8, 1887, JUST THREE DAYS BEFORE EXECUTION OF THE HAYMARKET ANARCHISTS.

AT FIRST THE FORT WAS CALLED THE "CAMP AT HIGHWOOD."

BUT IT WAS RENAMED FOR GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN, A CIVIL WAR VETERAN WHO KEPT THE PEACE IN CHICAGO AFTER THE GREAT FIRE OF 1871.

THE YOUNG ARCHITECTS HOLABIRD AND ROCHE WERE HIRED TO DESIGN THE FORT.

THEY WOULD BECOME RENOWNED BUILDERS OF CHICAGO'S FAMOUS SKYSCRAPERS, BUT THIS WAS THEIR FIRST BIG COMMISSION.

IT PROBABLY DIDN'T HURT THAT HOLABIRD'S FATHER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIRING THE FORT'S ARCHITECT.

THE CREAM COLORED BRICKS USED IN THE ROMANESQUE STYLE BUILDINGS WERE MADE ON SITE FROM LOCAL CLAY.

THE BARRACKS ARE UNIFORM AND SPARTAN.

OFFICERS' HOUSES INCREASE IN SIZE BASED ON RANK.

THE SOARING WATER TOWER AND PARADE GROUNDS PROVIDE SPACE FOR MILITARY POMP AND CEREMONY.

THE TOWER'S ARCHED BASE IS LARGE ENOUGH FOR A MARCHING PLATOON.

THE FORT WAS USED FOR ITS INTENDED PURPOSE EXACTLY ONCE, WHEN PRESIDENT GROVER CLEVELAND ORDERED TROOPS FROM FORT SHERIDAN TO DETER LABOR UNREST AT THE UNION STOCKYARDS AFTER THE 1894 PULLMAN STRIKE.

FORT SHERIDAN SOLDIERS FOUGHT IN CUBA DURING THE SPANISH AMERICAN WAR.

AND LAKOTA INDIANS WERE IMPRISONED THERE AFTER THE BATTLE OF WOUNDED KNEE IN SOUTH DAKOTA.

CAVALRY OFFICERS WERE GLAMOROUS CHARACTERS, AND THE POST BECAME A SOCIAL HUB ON THE NORTH SHORE, HOSTING BALLS AND RECEPTIONS AT THE OFFICERS' CLUB.

THE FORT'S 20TH CENTURY MISSION WAS MOSTLY RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING.

BUT NAZI PRISONERS OF WAR WERE INTERRED AT FORT SHERIDAN DURING WWII.

IN FACT, FORT SHERIDAN ADMINISTERED PRISONER OF WAR CAMPS ALL OVER ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN AND WISCONSIN WHERE A TOTAL OF 15,000 GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR WORKED IN CIVILIAN CONSTRUCTION JOBS AND HARVESTED CROPS.

THE FORT CONTROLLED NIKE MISSILES DURING THE COLD WAR, AND SENT SOLDIERS INTO BATTLE IN KOREA, VIETNAM AND THE GULF WAR.

IT WAS CLOSED AS PART OF MILITARY DOWNSIZING IN 1993.

WE'RE IN HIGHWOOD NOW, JUST SOUTH OF FORT SHERIDAN.

FOR ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS, THIS WAS ONE OF THE ONLY PLACES ON THE NORTH SHORE WHERE YOU COULD DO THIS WITHOUT GETTING ARRESTED "CHEERS!"

FORT SHERIDAN GETS A LARGE PART OF THE CREDIT OR THE BLAME FOR HIGHWOOD'S REPUTATION.

IT WAS ONCE A BURGEONING RAILROAD SUBURB.

ITS LEADING CITIZEN WAS THE PROMINENT ARCHITECT OF CHICAGO'S FAMOUS WATER TOWER, W.W BOYINGTON.

BUT WHEN THE FORT OPENED, HIGHWOOD CHANGED ITS NAME TO FORT SHERIDAN VILLAGE AND APPROVED THE SALE AND CONSUMPTION OF ALCOHOL.

ACCORDING TO HISTORIAN MICHAEL EBNER, HIGHWOOD'S TRUSTEES CLAIMED THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GET CONTROL OVER THE MANY ILLEGAL-DRINKING ESTABLISHMENTS CATERING TO SOLDIERS.

THERE WERE FEEBLE ATTEMPTS TO CLEAN UP THE TOWN'S IMAGE.

IN FACT, IN 1904 IT CHANGED ITS NAME BACK TO HIGHWOOD.

THAT DIDN'T CHANGE THE FACT THAT THERE WAS 1 BAR FOR EVERY 80 RESIDENTS, COMPARED TO 1 IN 250 FOR CHICAGO.

IN 1905, MAYOR-SLASH-TAVERN OWNER MICHAEL GIBBS WENT ON A REFORM BENDER.

HE CLOSED DOWN A LOCAL BROTHEL AND HE BANNED GAMBLING IN BARS.

SHORTLY AFTER HE MADE THAT PRONOUNCEMENT, A LOCAL MINISTER SHOWED UP AT GIBB'S TAVERN WITH MEMBERS OF THE NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL TEAM, AND HAD THE MAYOR HIMSELF ARRESTED FOR ALLOWING GAMBLING IN HIS OWN BAR.

ITALIAN IMMIGRANTS STARTED MOVING TO HIGHWOOD IN THE LATE 1800S.

THEY WERE STONE MASONS AND GARDENERS IN THE OLD COUNTRY, AND FOUND PLENTY OF WORK BUILDING AND LANDSCAPING NORTH SHORE MANSIONS.

ACCORDING TO A LOCAL HISTORIAN, THE ITALIANS ALSO MADE THEIR OWN WINE.

BEFORE LONG SOME LOCAL ITALIAN RESTAURANTS OPENED UP, AND THE REST IS HISTORY.

TO THIS DAY, MANY CONSIDER HIGHWOOD THE RESTAURANT CAPITAL OF THE NORTH SHORE.

THERE ARE DOZENS OF RESTAURANTS PACKED INTO A FEW BLOCKS!

MANY HAVE BEEN PASSED FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT.

TODAY, HIGHWOOD CONTINUES TO BE A PORT OF ENTRY FOR NEW IMMIGRANTS.

THE TOWN NOW HAS A LARGE HISPANIC POPULATION.

AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF FORT SHERIDAN HAS SPARKED A BOOM IN REAL ESTATE VALUES.

IF YOU GO A FEW MILES WEST OF HIGHWOOD ON HALF DAY ROAD, YOU'LL CROSS THE DES PLAINES RIVER AT ABOUT THE PLACE WHERE THE VERY FIRST NON-NATIVE SETTLER IN LAKE COUNTY BUILT HIS LOG CABIN IN 1834.

DANIEL WRIGHT HAD BEEN A CAPTAIN IN THE VERMONT MILITIA, AND FOUGHT IN THE WAR OF 1812.

POTAWATOMIS HELPED HIM BUILD HIS HOME NEAR THEIR VILLAGE.

HE CALLED THE SETTLEMENT HALF DAY.

NOW MOST PEOPLE ON THE NORTH SHORE WILL TELL YOU THE ROAD AND THE SETTLEMENT WERE NAMED BECAUSE THEY WERE A HALF-DAY'S JOURNEY FROM CHICAGO.

NOT SO, ACCORDING TO THE LAKE COUNTY DISCOVERY MUSEUM'S DIANA DRETSKE.

THEY WERE NAMED IN HONOR OF INDIAN CHIEF APTIKISIC WHO LIVED NEARBY.

APTIKISIC'S NAME IS THE NATIVE AMERICAN WORD FOR MIDDLE OF THE SKY, OR HALF DAY.

HE APPARENTLY GOT HIS NAME BECAUSE HE PERFORMED A TASK IN HALF A DAY THAT WOULD TAKE AN ORDINARY PERSON AN ENTIRE DAY TO COMPLETE.

HE SPOKE ELOQUENTLY AGAINST THE TREATY THAT BANISHED HIS PEOPLE FROM THE AREA.

ULTIMATELY, HIS WORDS FELL ON DEAF EARS.

DANIEL WRIGHT DIED AT AGE 95 IN 1873.

THIS ROCK, WHICH USED TO MARK THE SPOT WHERE HIS CABIN STOOD, WAS MOVED IN THE 1990S HERE TO RYERSON WOODS, WEST OF DEERFIELD.

THIS WAS ONCE THE VACATION RETREAT OF EDWARD L. RYERSON, CHAIRMAN OF RYERSON STEEL.

HE AND HIS FRIENDS BUILT RUSTIC CABINS HERE.

TODAY IT'S A 550-ACRE FOREST PRESERVE.

THE RYERSON'S GREEK REVIVAL MANSION FROM 1942 IS NOW THE VISITOR'S CENTER.

THE OLDEST SURVIVING BUILDING IN LAKE COUNTY IS LOVINGLY PRESERVED IN DEERFIELD.

IT'S THE CASPER OTT LOG HOUSE FROM 1837.

THE OTTS WERE EARLY DEERFIELD FARMERS FROM THE ALCASE REGION BETWEEN GERMANY AND FRANCE.

THE OTT HOUSE IS PART OF LITTLE COLLECTION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS THAT WERE MOVED HERE.

THERE'S ALSO A REPLICA OF A LITTLE RED SCHOOL HOUSE, WHERE LOCAL FOURTH GRADERS SPEND A DAY EACH YEAR LEARNING HOW THEIR COUNTERPARTS WENT TO SCHOOL ON THE NORTH SHORE A CENTURY AND A HALF AGO.

ONE VERY OLD GRAVE IN THE DEERFIELD CEMETERY BELONGS TO JOHN KINZIE CLARK.

HE WAS A BUCKSKIN-WEARING FRONTIERSMAN WHO WAS RAISED BY INDIANS, AND BECAME A PONY EXPRESS RIDER BETWEEN FORT WAYNE, CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE.

DEERFIELD AT ONE TIME WAS CALLED CADWELL'S CORNERS.

IT WAS NAMED FOR A FAMILY THAT CAME HERE FROM VERMONT.

THE NAME WAS CHANGED IN PART BECAUSE DEER WERE SO ABUNDANT HERE.

WELL, THEY STILL ARE.

IN FACT, ALL UP AND DOWN THE NORTH SHORE SEEING A DEER IN YOUR GARDEN HAS GONE FROM BEING A NOVELTY TO BEING A NUISANCE.

THIS IS BECAUSE THE DEER HABITAT IS SHRINKING, DUE TO SUBURBAN SPRAWL, AND THEIR NATURAL PREDATORS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED.

SUBURBS HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING FROM DEER RELOCATION TO DEER CONTRACEPTION WITHOUT MUCH SUCCESS.

SOME SUBURBS HAVE EVEN RESORTED TO HIRING SHARPSHOOTERS.

IT REMAINS A HOT TOPIC ALL OVER THE NORTH SHORE.

AT CERTAIN TIMES OF THE YEAR, DEERFIELD ALSO IS OVERRUN WITH BULLS.

BUT NO ONE'S TRYING TO GET RID OF THEM.

THE CHICAGO BULLS PRACTICE AT BERTO CENTER HERE.

IT'S NAMED FOR SHERI L. BERTO, WHO WAS BULL'S OWNER JERRY REINSDORF'S LONGTIME ASSISTANT.

TWO GHOST TOWNS ONCE STOOD WHERE HIGHLAND PARK IS TODAY.

THE FIRST ONE DIED OF NATURAL CAUSES.

THE SECOND ONE WAS KILLED BY OUR OLD FRIEND WALTER GURNEE.

THE STORY STARTS IN THE 1840S WHEN SOME ENTERPRISING SETTLERS STARTED BUILDING A SMALL INDUSTRIAL PORT CITY CALLED ST. JOHNS ABOUT WHERE FORT SHERIDAN IS TODAY.

THEY BUILT A LONG PIER, BUT NO ONE COULD GET THERE BY LAND.

THE NEAREST ROAD WAS A QUARTER MILE AWAY.

WITHIN A FEW YEARS, ST. JOHNS WAS ABANDONED.

IN 1853, PORT CLINTON WAS ESTABLISHED JUST SOUTH OF ST. JOHNS.

THE DEVELOPER, JACOB CLINTON BLOOM BUILT A PIER AND CONNECTED IT BY A PLANK ROAD TO HALF DAY ROAD.

SOON HE HAD A SUCCESSFUL PORT, SHIPPING LUMBER AND GRAIN TO CHICAGO.

BUT WHEN WALTER GURNEE RAN HIS RAILROAD THROUGH TOWN, PORT CLINTON WAS DOOMED.

GURNEE INSISTED ON PUTTING THE STATION NEAR HIS OWN PROPERTY TO THE SOUTH.

THAT'S WHY DOWNTOWN HIGHLAND PARK IS HERE TODAY, AND PORT CLINTON IS GONE.

AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, WALTER GURNEE HAD A VISION FOR THE NORTH SHORE, AND IT WASN'T IN LUMBER AND FREIGHT SHIPPING.

HE ENVISIONED THE COMMUTER SUBURBS THAT WE KNOW TODAY.

AND HE SET ABOUT TO MAKE HIS DREAM A REALITY.

HE SOLD HIS 12,000 ACRES TO A DEVELOPER WHO STARTED BUILDING HOMES FROM DESIGNS FOUND IN PATTERN BOOKS.

IN THE 10S,CHAG TUED TO THE LAONT(AREAS OFIGHLAND PARK INTO A SORT OF SUMMER RETREAT.

THEY BUILT LARGE HOMES AND COUNTRY CLUBS.ENED, OF HIGHLAND PARK UMMER RESORT.

BUT HISTORIAN MICHAEL EBNER WRITES THAT HIGHLAND PARK WAS ALWAYS MORE MIDDLE CLASS AND INCLUSIVE THAN SOME OF ITS OTHER NORTH SHORE NEIGHBORS.

THE MOST OBVIOUS EXAMPLE OF THAT WAS THAT JEWS WERE WELCOMED HERE, OR AT LEAST NOT EXCLUDED.IES BUILT A CLUSTER OF SUMMER HOMES AND A CLUBHOUSE HERE AND NAMED THE RESORT WILDWOOD.

SINKE(JMW[ KO]LN MOSé KO]NéRY KL WHICHúATTRACTED MORE AFFLUENTR , ANDúGLENCOE.LAND PARK@ SEARS PRESIDENT JULIUS ROSENWALD BUILT A HUGE SUMMER ESTATE NEAR RAVINIA IN 1912.

AT ONE TIME HE WAS CHICAGO'S RICHEST MAN, AND AFRICAN AMERICAN CAUSES.

HOMUSpWURUpWYNTUR]zmEíDáhkGééUí HIGHLAND PARKERS LOVED THEIR RAVINES AND BLUFFS AND HIRED PRAIRIE STYLE ARCHITEC, INCLUDING FRENO LLOYD WRMGLTDDD.

WRIGHT'S WARD WILLETS HOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1902, SIX YEARS BEFORE HIS LANDMARK ROBIE HOUSE IN HYDE PARK.

IT WAS"HKS CNECRGST gXRRESSION(% WYTXLOPPTPPPPTTTT%T-TtíETUVEé IN THE 20TH CENTURY, HIGHLAND PARK RUT QL[O(ON NOZTH [HORM("""" WAS DEMOLISHED TO MAKE ROOM FOR IT.

TODAY, THErDOWPHENoN "@ COíTROVgRsY ALLúOVER N @ THM NORTH SHORE.TTTTTTTTTTTTTT%E FOR $12 MILLION DOLLARS AND DEMOLISHED.

WHEN THE TECHNOLOGY BUBBLE BURST, THE OWNER SOLD THE VACANT LAND AT A $2 MILLION LOSS.

MANY SUBURBS ARE NOW WORKING ON LAWS TO DISCOURAGE TEARDOWNS, OR AT LEAST LIMIT THE SIZE OF THE HOMESHAT REPLACE THEM.TTN CHURCH SCHOOL IN HIGHLAND PARK.

FOUNDERS GARY SINISE AND JEFF PERRY GRADUATED FROM HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL IN THE EARLY 1970S.

DURING THE SUMMERS, THEY PUT ON PLAYS HERE WITH ACTORS THEY MET AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY, INCLUDING JOHN MALKOVICH AND LAURIE METCALF.

THE COMPANY MOVED TO CHICAGO IN 1980 AND MANY OF THE ENSEMBLE MEMBERS ARE NOW INTERNATIONAL STARS.

ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE ON THE PLANET ALSO LIVES IN HIGHLAND PARK.

MICHAEL JORDAN.

NO, THAT'S NOT HIS ADDRESS ON THE FRONT GATE.

BY THE WAY, JORDAN'S FORMER BOSS, JERRY REINORF IS ALSO FROM HIGHLAND PARK.

AND THEN, OF COURSE, THERE'S ELISHA GRAY.

NEVER HEARD OF HIM?

WELL, IF HIS TIMING HAD JUST BEEN A LITTLE BIT BETTER, HE'D BE A HOUSEHOLD NAME.

YOU SEE ELISHA GRAY, OF HIGHLAND PARK, INVENTED THE TELEPHONE.

UNFORTUNATELY, HE INVENTED IT AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME AS ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL.

APPLICATIONS FROM BOTH INVENTORS ARRIVED AT THE PATENT OFFICE ON THE SAME DAY, AND YOU KNOW WHOSE ENVELOPE GOT OPENED FIRST.

RAVINIA, JUST SOUTH OF HIGHLAND PARK, STARTED AS A BAPTIST RELIGIOUS COLONY.

BUT IT WAS ANNEXED TO HIGHLAND PARK IN 1899 AND BECAME SOMETHING OF AN ARTIST'S COLONY INSTEAD.

MAYBE IT WAS THE WILD TERRAIN THAT ATTRACTED PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, WRITERS DESIGNER JENS JENSEN.ANDSCAPE JULIUS ROSENWALD AND OTHERS HIRED JENSEN TO PRESERVE THE RUSTIC BEAUTY OF THEIR PROPERTY.

JENSEN'S USE OF NATIVE PLANTS AND NATURAL TERRAIN BECAME KNOWN AS THE PRAIRIE STYLE OF LANDSCAPING.

JENSON ALSO LIKED NATIVE ARICAN COUNCIL RINGS.

ONE CAN BE SEEN TTTTTT%T-THéE LEONARD BERNSTEIN, AND GEORGE GERSHWIN.

BUT RAVINIA PARK WASN'T ORIGINALLY A CONCERT VENUE.

IT WAS AN AMUSEMENT PARK, BUILT BY THE CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE ElECTRIC rAILROAD.

IT OPENED ON AUGUST 15, 1904.T- CLASSICAL MUSIC CAME TO RAVINIA TWO YEARS LATER, WITH THE NEW YORK SYMPHONY CONDUCTED BY WALTER DAMROSCH.4/ ECKTEIN INTRODUCED AN ERA OF FULLY STAGED OPERAS, FEATURING THE GREATEST STARS OF THE AGE.

DURING THE DEPRESSION, ECKSTEIN PAID $200,000 OUT OF HIS OWN POCKET TO COVER THE PARK'S DEBT.

HE SAID, "SOME PEOPLE HAVE A YACHT.

I HAVE RAVINIA."

THE DEPRESSION ECONOMY FINALLY DID CLOSED DOWN THE PARK IN 1931 AND ECKSTEIN DIED IN 1935.

BUT, HIS FRIENDS RE-OPENED IT IN 1936 AS THE RAVINIA FESTIVAL, SUMMER HOME OF THE CDUW]GíET$VOV$V-6=4E]VTL> A NEW PAVILION SEATING 3,200 WAS BUILT IN 1950.

MS$TLE$ONL] ORMGkNkNáB█KnFkNoáz MIXED ARTS AND CRAFTS AND SPANISH STYLES WITH BEAUTIFUL ART GLASS AND PRAIRIE STYLE DETAILS.

THE 1970S BROUGHT ROCK CONCERTS.

AND JAZZ HAS ALSO BEEN A MAINSTAY, TOO.

BENNY GOODMAN, LOUIS ARMSTRONG, ELA FITZGERALD, DIZZY GILLESPIE ALL PERFORMED HEGNJO[(RIVINIC(G - FEELS LIKE A REAL BACK-TO-NATURE EXPERIENCE, BUT ACTUALLY THESE LAGOONS ARE MAN-MADE.

THE WORD SKOKIE IS NATIVE AMERICAN FOR "BIG SWAMP," HE CTHTTTTTT]MUDPpTéP@PTWOPT BY THE WAY, WE'VE NOW CROSSED FROM LAKE COUNTY INTO COOK COUNTY WHICH IS NAMED FOR DANIEL POPE COOK.DTDDTTTPPPE BACK IN THE EARLY 1800S TO GET THE ILLINOIS BORDER MOVED 62 1/2 MILES TO THE NORTH SO THAT ILLINOIS COULD HAVE A LITTLE LAKE MICHIGAN SHORELINE.

THE LAGOONS ARE A SMALL PART OF THE COOK COUNTY FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT, 68,000 ACRES IN ALL.

TEN PERE LS WEVE$ENVMSD BY SOME FOVWERD THMNKING PEOPLE ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO WHO CORRECTLY PREDICTED THAT SPRAWLING DEVELOPMENT WOULD SOMEDAY WIPE OUT MOST OF THE WHAT NATURE CREATED HERE.

IN 1916, AFTER 10 YEARS OF LEGYSéATIVE ANT COURT BATTLES, COOK COUNTY BEGAN ACQUIRING WOODS, GRASSLANDS, MARSHES AND SAVANNAS.TuTTTTTTTTóóó]UtóíT ChIcAgO BoTaNiC GaRdEn.

THE MICHELIN GUIDE TO CHICAGO CALLS THE GARDEN, NOAH'S ARC FOR PLANTS.

SOME SUPERLATIVES: THERE ARE 1.5 LLION PLANTSD 75 ( 23(sXOCIALTY GARDENS, AND 3 NATIVE HABITATS.

(( ( EIGHT HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE VISIT EVERY YEAR.

PROGRAMS INCLUDE CHILDREN'S AND ADULT EDUCATION THE GARDENS WERE ENVISIONED BY WILLIAM A. P. PULLMAN OF LAKE FOREST.

PULLMAN WAS THE HEAD OF THE CHICAGO HORTICULTURE SOCIETY, AND HE WAS A DISTANT RELATIVE OF GEORGE PULLMAN.

HE LOVED THIS LOCATION HERE AT THE NORTHERN END OF THE SKOKIE LAGOONS MILES AWAY FROM CHICAGO BUT HE HAD TO ENGAGE IN A LITTLE CHICAGO POLITICS TO MAKE HIS DREAM A REALITY.

FIRST OF ALL, HE HAD TO CONVINCE THE HEAD OF THE COOK COUNTY BOARD, SEYMOUR SIMON.

SIMON CALLED HIM THE MOST PERSISTENT MAN HE'D EVER MET.

UNFORTUNATELY, SIMON'S RIVAL ON THE COOK COUNTY BOARD, GEORGE DUNN, DIDN'T LIKE THE IDEA.

DUNN SAID, "WHO'D GO THERE?

A BUNCH OF SUBURBAN PEOPLE.

CHICAGO PEOPLE WON'T GO THERE, AND THEY'RE THE DEMOCRATIC VOTERS."

SO SIMON GOT A FRIEND OF HIS TO CONVINCE MAYOR RICHARD J. DALEY THAT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.

A FEW DAYS AFTER THAT MEETING, DUNN ABRUPTLY CHANGED HIS MIND.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE GARDENS BEGAN IN 1965 AND TOOK SEVEN YEARS.

DESIGNER JOHN O. SIMONDS SAID, ON THE PLANET ALSO LIVES "A WHOLE NEW NANDSCCPG WAS SHAPED FROM"DGPLETED FIS AND TOOK SEVEN YEARS.

DESIAND GROSSNY POLNUVEF SAID, DRAKNAGG WA[S..." SINCE THE GARDEN OPENED, MANY NEW ENVIRONMENTS HAVE BEEN ADDED, INCLUDING THE JAPANESE GARDEN, AND THE WATERFALL GARDEN.RGEST HE GARDEN'S HISTORY TPTTáá@TPTPT THE STYLE IS ROOTED IN ENVIRONMENTALISM, AND FEATURES PERENNIALS AND NATIVE PLQNTS> ANOTHER NEW PROJECT INTIMATE SPIDER ISLA.

INSPIRED BY "DREAMS, NLMEéING(THOUGAND MEMORI ACCORDIN ITS DESIGNER, MICHAEL VAN VALKENBURGH.

THE ONE EVER-PRESENT ANNOYANCE IN THE MIDST OF THIS EDEN, IS THE EDENS.

EDENS HIGHWAY, THAT IS.

IT RUNS RIGHT ALONG THE GARDEN TO THE WEST.

THERE'S AN AMBITIOUS PLAN TO BUILD A BARRIER THAT WILL MAHEáGTT</4zSoUnD AS .

THE EDENS EX BANKER WILLIAM G. EDENS HEADED THE ILLINOIS HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, WAY BACK IN 1918.

THE GROUP CONVINCED THE STATE TO SPEND 60 MILLION DOLLARS TO PAVE THE ROADS.

IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME.

BEFORE THE EDENS WAS BUILT, THE MAIN HIGHWAY ON THE NORTH SHORE WAS SHERIDAN ROAD.

THE FAMILIAR TWISTS AND TURNS WERE NOT ORIGINALLY INTENDED.

IT WAS CONCEIVED IN 1889 AS A BROAD BOULEVARD EXTENDING CHICAGO'S LAKESHORE DRIVE ALL THE WAY UP THE NORTH SHORE.

BUT rD"IoPoSsIbLg."

" PROMOTERS VRIED TO GET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO SUPPORT IT AS A MILITARY HIGHWAY TO QUICKLY GET TROOPS FROM FORT SHERIDAN BUT THE SECRETARY OF THE ARMY SAID IT WAS UNNEY.

SO TODAY, INSTEAD OF RUNNING ALONG THE LAKESHORE, SHERIDAN ROAD WINDS ITS WAY THROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS AND DEEP RAVINES.

THE FIRST ROADs ON THE NORTH SHORE WERE INDIAN TRAI.

AND THE FIRST STREET SIGNS WERE TRAIL TREES LIKE THIS ONE THAT NOW STANDS ON A FRONT LAWN IN GLENCOE.

THE NATIVE AMERICANS BENT THE TREES AS SAPLINGS AND STAKED THEM DOWN TO HELP THEM FIND THEIR WAY THROUGH THE FOREST.

OFTEN THE TREES POINTED TO WATER OR A RIDGE LINE.

THIS ONE IN KENILWORTH MIGHT HAVE POINTED TO THE BUSIEST NORTH SHORE THOROUGHFARE IN THOSE DAYS, THE GREEN BAY TRAIL.

TODAY ITS CALLED GREEN BAY ROADP BETWEEN CHICAGO AND GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN, TOOK A MONTH ON FOOT IN WINTER.

THE BEACH WAS THE PREFERRED WA TO TRAVEN IN SUMMER MONTjST(( AL POST ROAD FOR MAIL COURIERS ON HORSEBACK.

LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO MOVE WITH HIS WIFE AND SON.

WHMN HE REACHED THE SITE OF PRESENT DAY GLENCOE, TAYLOR CAME UPON WHAT WAS AND STILL IS ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC FEATURES OF THE NORTH SHORE.

HIGH BLUFFS WITH COMMANDING VIEWS OF THE LAKE.

THE BLUFFS START NORTH OF WILMETTE AND CONTINUE TO ABOUT NORTH CHICAGO.

TODAY SOME OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE HOMES IN THE CHICAGO AREA PERCH ATOP THESE BLUFFS, WITH STUNNING VIEWS AND LONG STAIRWAYS LEADING DOWN THROUGH THE TREES TO PRIVATE BEACHES BELOW.

IF YOU'RE NOT WEALTHY ENOUGH TO OWN A PIECE OF THE BLUFFS, YOU CAN STILL ENJOY THEM AT PUBLIC PARKS SUBURBS GHND PAR WINNETKA AND HERE IN GLENCOE.

THIS IS WHERE ANSON H. TAYLOR STAKED HIS CLAIM IN 1835.

SHIPPED UP HE LAKEFROíT VISCOW.REMEMBER, GREED WAS PRETTY ROUGH BACK THEN.

ANSON TAYLOR RAN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING IN TAYLORSPORT.

HE BUILT A PIER OUT THERE AND BOUGHT A COUPLE OF SCHOONERS SO HE COULD SHIP LUMBER FROM THE LOCAL SAWMILL.

HE WAS THE PROPRIETOR OF LAPIER HOUSE, WH JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.

BUT JUST AS IN HIGHLAND PARK AND LAKE BLUFF, RAILROAD PRESIDENT WALTER GURNEE HAD DESIGNS ON TAYLORSPORT.

HE MARRIED THE DAUGHTER OF LOCAL LANDOWNER MATTHEW"COE.

HE BOUGHT HIS FATHER-IN-LAS 12,000-ACRE FARMND RCED THE FARMHUVU íA]S áááá((TTT%T-TT BECAME COE'S GLEN AND LATER GLENCOE.

ANOTHER ST COMPARED TO OTHER NORTH SHORE RAILROAD SUBURBS,SHP FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S ONLY KNOWN BRIDGE IS HERE ON SYLVAN RD.

IT WAS BUILT IN 1915 AND RE-BUILT985.

WRIGHT ALSO DESIGNED SIX HOMES IN THE RAVINE BLUFFS DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN 1905 AND 1915.

4/ "A WHOLE NEW NANDSCCPG ANOíHGR"FCMOUS IN THE RAVINE BLUFFS DEVELOPMENT BETWPzAKRO ç CRKHITECT,@DDTTTTTT THE WEIBOLDT FAMILY OF DEPARTMENT STORE FAME BUILT ONE OF MANY REVIVAL IS TU.

GLENCOE'S MOST FAMOUS MODERNIST BUILDING IS NORTH SHORE CONGREGATION ISRAEL, FROM 1964 BY MINORU YAMASAKI.

AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, GLENCOE AND HIGLAND PARK WERE OPEN TO POPULATIONS THAT WERE EXCLUDED ELSEWHERE GLENCOE HAS HAD AN AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED YEARS.

♪ GOSPEL MUSIC ♪ AND IS STILL GOING STRONG.

AS I SAID EARLIER, AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE HISTORICALLY PART OF THE SERVICE INDUSTRY ON THE NORTH SHORE, RUNNING SMALL RETAIL BUSINESSES AND WORKING AS LABORERS, DOMESTICS AND POLICEMEN.

MMY WAS SECOND LARGEST ON THE NORTH SHORE TO EVAN.

BUT THAT'S NOT TO SAY THAT BLACKS LIVED FREE 4%4-( SCHOOLS WERE INTEGRATED FROM THE BEGINNING, BUT BEACHES WERE NOT.UNDIVE IN WHEN SOME BLACKS MOVED TO AN AREA ON VERNON AVENUE, THE PROPERTY WAS CONDEMNED BY THE CITY AND TURNED INTO A PARK.TTTT U VTé WHóRU jAkO]Eááá>%>->pk nOP 99ANRICAN,ELECTED VILLAGE PRESI.

WE'VE ALREADY SEEN HOW THE CHICAGO AND NORTH WESTERN RAILROAD HELPED THE SHORELINE SUBURBS LIKE GLENCOE DEVELOP INTO BEDROOM COMMUNITIES.

BUT TO THE WEST THE INLAND SUBURBS LIKE NORTHBROOK BENEFITED IN A DIFFERENT WAY TXE0MYLWTéESWURU V.LROAD, DPDP@PTpFéóUR THIS IS THE BROOK AFTER WHICH NORTHBROOK IS NAMED IT'S AcTuAlLY THE NORTH BRaNCH OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.4% SO HOW DID SHERMERVILLE BECOME NORTHBROOK?

WELL IT SEEMS THE LITTLE RURAL TOWN HAD A REPUTATION FOR TOLERATING DRINKING.

SO WHEN PROHIBITION WAS ENACTED, THE LOCAL RESIDENTS WANTED TO CLEAN UP THE TOWN'S IMAGE, AND THEY HELD A CONTEST TO CHANGE ITS NAME.

BOOMED AS RESIDMNTIAL TOWNS AFTER WWII, NEARLY HALF NTY AFTER THE SHORELINE COMMUNITIES TO THE EAST REACHED MATURITY.

NORTHBROOK'S POST-WAR BABY BOOM NOT WITHSTANDING, THAT LED TO ENOVID, THS FIRST ORAL CóNFOR MORE THAN YEARS.

NORTHBROOK ERASED ANY LINGERING TRASE0OV YTS RURAL REPUTATIONTT( WITH THE OPENING OF"TJE"VERY UPSCCLG NORTHBVOOK CóUVT$IN u9w6>DDDDDD THEZE WAS QUITEE "A WHOLE NEW NANDSCCPG OVER VHG OANL'S"CONSTRUCTKO IT WAS BUILT ON FARMLAND BORDERING HIGHLAND PARK AND NORTHBROOK.

WHEN NORTHBROOK ANNEXED THE LAND, HIGHLAND PARK SUED.

AFTER LOSING THE LAWSUIT, HIGHLAND PARK INSTALLED TRAFFIC SIGNALS THAT WERE DESIGNED TO KEEP MALL TRAFFIC OUT OF ITS NEIGHBORHOODS, BuT AlSo dIvERTeD HiGhLAND pArK TRAFFIC AWAy fRoM NoRTHbRoOk COURT.

FOR YEARS, NORTHBROOK COURT SHOPPERS WERE ACCUSTOMED TO THE ROAR OF FIGHTER JETS OVERHEAD FROM GLENVIEW NAVAL AIR STATIO GLENVIEW NAVAL AIR STATION BEGAN ITS LIFE AS A COMMERCIAL AIRPORT CALLED CURTIS-WRIGHT AIRFIELD.

ITS CENTERPIECE WAS HANGAR ONE, THE BIGGEST AND SLEEKEST HANGAR EVER BUILT, DESIGNED BY THE FAMOUS CHICAGO ARCHITECT ANDREW RIBORI.

THE AIRPORT OPENED ON OCTOBER 20TH, 1929.

AND NINE DAYS THE STK RK CRASH TO PROMOTE THE STRUGGLING AIRFIELD, CURTIS-WRIGHT HOSTED AIR RACES IN THE 1930S.

CROWDS FLOCKED THERE TO SEEBOCK.

BUT COMMERCIAL AVIATION IN 1940, THE NAVYE BOUGHT THE AIRPORT FOR AáTUR4 kTç oLáCá NORTHBVOOK CóUVT$IN u9w6>DDDDDD THEZWKTJ íHO KT.

BOUGHT THE AIRPORT FOR AáTUNKVKLáaIr sW WENT INTO HIGH GEAR.

TRAINEES WERE GIVEN THREE DAYS TO PRACTICE TAKEOFFSTtQTpTYVVUR, FUTURE PRESIDENTS GEORGE BUSH SENIOR AND GERALD FORD AND SPACE PIONEER NEIL ARMSTRONG WERE ALL STATIONED AT GLENVIEW.

WITH THE CLOSING OF THE BASE IN 1995, THE VILLAGE OF GLENVIEW AVOIDED FIGHTS WITH DEVELOPERS BY DEVELOPING THE 1100-ACRE PROPERTY ITSELF.

THE VILLAGE NAMED IT "THE GLEN" AND SET OUT TO COMBAT URBAN SPRAWL WITH A NEW KIND OF LAND USE THAT FEATURES LOTS OF OPEN SPACE AND PEDESTRIAN-ORIENTED HOUSING.

IT'S A CONCEPT SOMETIMES CALLED "NEW URBANISM" OR "NEO-TRADITIONALISM" PUT FORTH AS AN ANTIDOTE TO THE SUBURBAN CAR CULTURE.

A LAND PLANNER QUOTED IN THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE SAID, "NO PRIVATE DEVELOPER WOULD HAVE DEVOTED SO MUCH OPEN SPACE FOR PUBLIC USE."

THERE'S A 90-ACRE PARK, 54-ACRE LAKE AND A GOLF COURSE.

CONCRETE FROM THE RUNWAYS WAS RECYCLED TO TRANSFORM THE FLAT LANDSCAPE INTO ROLLING COUNTRYSIDE.

THE HOMES HAVE FRONT PORCHES TO ENCOURAGE STREET LIFE.

GARAGES ARE HIDDEN FROM VIEW.

THESE ARE NOT STARTER HOMES.

PRICES RANGE FROM $300,000 FOR A TOWNHOME TO MORE THAN A MILLION FOR A HOUSE ON THE GOLF COURSE.

RESIDENTS CAN WALK TO SHOPPING AND THE NEW METRA TRAIN STATION.

THERE'S ALSO SENIOR HOUSING AND AN OFFICE PARK.

THE $750 MILLION DEVELOPMENT WILL ADD MORE THAN 3,000 PEOPLE TO GLENVIEW'S POPULATION OF 39,000.

THERE HAD BEEN TALK OF PRESERVING ONE RELIC FROM THE AIRBASE, HANGAR ONE, N AVIAON MUSM.

THAT DIDN'T HARPEN, BUT THE FAÇADE AND CONTROL TOWER WERE SAVED AS PART OF A SHOPPING CENTER.

THERE'S SOME LAND IN GNVIEW THAT'S SIMPLY OFF LIMITS TO DEVELOPERS.

THIS IS THE GROVE.

IT'S A NATIONASTORIC LANDMARK AND IT'S VIRTUALLUNCHGED NCE THE JONATHAN KENNICOT FAMILY BOUGHT IT IN THE 1830S [OW CAN SEG WH[ HE FELL IN LOVE.

WITH THIS PLACE.

HE BUILT HIS HOME IN A BEAUTIFUL GROVE OF TREES LEFT OVER FROM THE DAYS WHEN THE MIDWEST WAS A VAST FOREST, BEFORE CLIMATE CHANGE TURNED IT INTO A PRAIRIE.

ROBERT KENNIWAWIDELY RED BY THE NATIVAMICANS ASN HERBAL HEAR.

E HIIED AT A 30 ON TRIA.

NATIVEMENS TRE PRESERVED HIS BODY AND$TLE[ RENA[EF MT FROM TRIBE TO TRIBE ALL THE WAY BACK TO GLENVIEW SO HCOULD BE BURD HERE AT THE GROVE.

ON LAKE AVENUE IN GLENVIEW IS A SIGHT THAT ALWAYS TURNS HEADS, THE LAST DAIRY FARM IN COOK COUNTY.

WAGNER FARM HAS BEEN IN OPERATION SINCE 1837.

TODAY THE GLENVIEW PARK DISTRICT RUNS IT WITH A SMALL STAFF >>" áHOSv)"TJE"LCSVEEVi$ TOUS4A- óF THE WAGNERS DIED IN , AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO BENEFIT A LOCAL CHURCH. "

" NORTHBVOOK CóUVT$IN u9w6>DDDDDD IN C RENEZENDWM, CITIZENS VD TO SPEND $7.2 MILLION TO PURCHASE THE FARM AND KEEP IT OP BY HAND WORKING FARM, TO TEACH ABOUT30S, OUR PRAIRIE FARMING PAST THIS KIND OF LEARNING BY DOING IS WIDELY ACCEPTED TODAY.

BUY IT WAS A CUTTING EDGE AND CONTROVERSIAL CONCEPT.

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT CARLTON WASHBURNE MADE WINNETKA A NATIONAL MODEL FOR PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION.

WASHBURNE REPLACED GRADE CARDS WITH GOAL CARDS.

STUDENTS LEARNED HISTORY BY BUILDING MODELS OF ANCIENT CITIES.

AND THEY DID INDEPENDENT RESEARCH AND HELD GROUP DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THEIR FINDINGS.

YN01940,0WQSXBURíE0GóT0A0CXAíCU TO0DUSYGí Q SCHOOL BUILDINWATIV.

HE HIRED PERKINS, WHEELER AND WILL, WHO WORKED WITH THE ACCLAIMED ARCHITECTS ELIEL AND EERO SAARINEN TO DESIGN CROW ISLAND SCHOOL.

EACH ROOM WAS FLOODED WITH LIGHR SO KIDS COULDN'T GET LOST.

EVERYTHING WAS KID-SIZED; EACH ROOM HAD A BATHROOM AND A PRIVATE EXIT TO AN OUTDOOR COURTYARD.

THE BUILDING INFLUENCED SCHOOL DESIGN ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

(áááááááá HE GOT THE IDEA FROM WINNETKA RESIDENT THEODOrE HION, WHO HAD BUILT A BAMBOO PROTOTYPE FOR HIS OWN KIDS.

HINTON THOUGHT THREE-DIMENSIONAL PLAY WOULD HELP KIDS VISUALIZE A FOURTH DIMENSION.

HIS KIDS "NEVER GAVE A HANG FOR THE FOURTH DIMENSION, BUT THEY LYKUD CLIMBINg AROUND ON THE FRAME."

SO HAND WASHBURNE BUILT THIS ONE OUT OF IRON PIPE IN THEIR SPARE TIME.

HINTON WENT ON TO MARKET THEM UNDER THE NAME JUNGLE GYM .

SOO FOR MANY YEARS NEW TRIER IN TEST SCORES,NEAR THE TOP ALTHOUGH IT DROPPED TO THIRD0IN STACHIEVEMENT TESTS BEHIND CHICAGO WHITNEY YOUNG AND NORTH SIDE PREP.

NEW TRIER'S ATHLETES AND TEAMS HAVE RACKED UP 77 STATE TITLES, MORE THAN ANY OTHER SCHOOL, AND THE MUSIC DEPARTMENT HAS WON TOP HONORS FROM DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE AND THE GRAMMY AWARDS.

FAMOUS ALUMS INCLUDE CHARLTON HESTON, ROCK HUDSON, ANN-MARGRET AND DONALD RUMSFELD.

BY THEY WAY, NEW TRIER TOWNSHIP WAS NAMED FOR TR LIKE THE SCHMIDT FAMILY WHO BUILWINNETKA'S VERY FIRST HOUSE IN THE 1830S ON A SITE THAT WAS ONCE A POTAWATOMY VILLAGE OF"TJE"INDKAN JINLSN THE HOUSE NOW BELONGW TO THE WIíNUTKULIWT SOCIETY.D EDUCATION WA[N/V THE ONLY PROGRESSIVE THINGN COI.

AND WINNETKA BUILT A MUNICIPAL POWER PLANT IN PART BECAUSE OF LLOYD'S OUTSPOKEN ARGUMENTS AGAINST MONOPOLIES.

YEARS LATER, WINNETKA SUCCESSF SAMUEL INSULL'S ATTEMPT TO MEKE THE LITTLE POWER PLANT COMMONWEALTH EDISON EMPIRE.

WHO WAS FDR'S SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR.

AS HEAD OF THE WPA, ICKES WAS RESPONSIBLmánozálo█ozkno(á(á HENRY DEMEREST LLOYD AND HIS WIFE JESSIE LIVED IN THIS SHERIDAN ROAD HOME CALLED WAYSIDE, WHICH THEY COULD AFFORD BECAUSE JESSIE'S FATHER WAS THE WEALTHY CHICAGO TRIBUNE PUBLISHER, WILLIAM BROSS.

AT WAYSIDE, THE LLOYD'S OFTEN HOSTED NOTABLES LIKE JANE ADDAMS AND LABOR ACOYD AND HIS FATHER-W HAD A MAJOR FALLING OVER LLOYD'S SUPPORT OF THE HAYMARKET ANARCHISTS.

WINNETROESVES ACHIEVED MAYBE THEIR GREATEST VICTORY IN 1965, WHEN MARTIN LUTHER KING ACCEPTED THEIR INVITATION TO SPEAK HE N SHORE@PTKA VILLAGE GREEN.

LLINPOLI THAT AFRICAN AMERICANS DESPITE WINNETKA'S PROGRESSIVE RHETORIC, EFFORTS AT OPEN HOUSING HERE AND ELSEWHERE ON THE NORTH SHORE WOULD BE LARGELY UNSUCCESSFUL FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.

THE VILLAGE GREEN WHERE DR. KING SPOKE WAS DONATED TO THE CITY MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO BY CHARLES PECK WHO DEVELOPED WINNETKA IN THE 1850S WITH HIS PARTNER, WALTER GURNEE.

PECK'S WIFE SARAH GAVE WINNETKA ITS NAME.

SHE SAID IT WAS A NATIVE AMERICAN WORD MEANING "BEAUTIFUL LAND."

ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE HOMES IN WINNETKA IS W. CLEMENT STONE'S SPANISH STYLE LAKEFRONT ESTATE BUILT IN THE 1920S.

STONE, WHO PASSED AWAY IN SEPTEMBER OF 2002 AT AGE 100, PREACHED POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE.

HE BUILT A SMALL INSURANCE AGENCY INTO THE COMPANY THAT EVENTUALLY BECAME THE MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR AON CORPORATION.

STONE WAS A SUPPORTER OF RICHARD NIXON, AND A FAMOUS PHILANTHROPIST WHOSE FOUNDATION GAVE SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS TO PROMOTE EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT.VIE, MYNóW4WQCóM]UíISATIó SO]M]SWIóN> KENILWORTH, HAS THE FEELING OF A ROYAL COUNTRY RETREAT.

IT WAS DESIGNED TO BE JUST THAT.

KENILWORTH WAS THE BRAINCHILD OF JOSEPH SEARS, A MAN WHO MADE HIS FORTUNE IN LARD.

4piN ThE 19Th cEnTuRy, FOR eVeRyThInG FrOm sOaP TO COOKING OIL TO LAMP FUEL.

SEARS LIVED AMONG CHICAGO'S MOST ELITE ON PRAIRIE AVENUE.

AS A YOUNG MAN HE HAD READ A NOVEL CALLED "KENILWORTH" BY SIR WALTER SCOTT, ABOUT A PLACE NEAR WARWICK CASTLE IN ENGLAND.

THE STORY SO CAPTURED HIM SEARS CAME HOME WITH ONE DREAM IN MIND.

TO MOVE WITH HIS FAMILY TO THE COUNTRY.

WHEN MEAT PACKER PHILIP ARMOUR BOUGHT HIS COMPANY IN 1887, SEARS RETIRED AT AGE 44 AND STARTED LOOKING FOR PROPERTY WHERE HE COULD BUILD OUTHWE EACHOGOT WUPLANN THE FAMOUS TRAIN STATION IN THE HEAVY STONE STYLE CALLED RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE, AND THE KENILWORTH UNION CHURCH.

ACCORDING TO THE ARCHITECTURAL ALBUOF THE NORHORE, THIS WASMERICA'S FIRST NONDENOMINNAL COMMUNITY CHURCH.

THE STREETS WERE ORIGINALLY NAMED FOR AMERICAN AUTHORS.

BUT SEARS HAD THEM CHANGED TO THE ENGLISH AND SCOTTISH NAMES FROM THE CHARACTERS ORIGINAL DEEDS REQUIRED HOMES TO BE BUILT TO HIGH CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS ON LARGE LOTS.

AND THERE WERE NO ALLEYS ALLOWED.

THE RULES TÑTtV]DTDTDTDTDTDTTTTT RENOWNED ARCHITECT GEORGE W. MAHER DESIGNED SEVERAL KENILWORTH HOMES, INCLUDING HIS N. THE ECLECTIC EXTERIOR IS A DEPARTURE FROM HIS MORE FAMILIAR PRAIRIE STYLE WORK, SUCH AS THE KENILWORTH CLUB, THE íATIóNUL$REG]STEV OF HISTORIC PLACES.

THE IDEA OF A STREETCAR RUNNING THROUGH TOWN.

THEY DIDN'T THINK IT FIT WKTH THEIR IMAGE.

THEY BECAME A MISSING LINK ON THE NORTH SHORE ELECTRIC LINE.

PASSENGERS TRAVELING BETWEEN CHICAGO AND MILWAUKEE HAD TO GET OFF THE TRAIN IN WILMETTE, WALK THROUGH KENILWORTH AND GET ON ANOTHER TRAIN IN WINNETKA.

LATER, SEARS GOT THE RAILROAD TO DONATE A FOUNTAIN AND OTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN EXCHANGE FOR GRANTING A FRANCHISE.

TODAY TRIBUTES TO SEARS ARE EVERYWHERE IN TOWN.

THERE'S A JOSEPH SEARS MEMORIAL WINDOW AT KENILWORTH UNION CHURCH.

THE JOSEPH SEARS SCHOOL IS THE ONLY SCHOOL IN KENILWORTH.

THE FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER WALKER EVANS SPENT PART OF HIS CHILDHOOD IN KENILWORTH.

EVEN THOUGH HE CAME FROM A WEALTHY FAMILY HE'S BEST KNOWN FOR PHOTOGRAPHING AMERICA'S POOR DURING THE DEPRESSION.

I IMAGINE NOTHING WAS EVER MORE IRKSOME TO THE KENILWORTH'S ARISTOCRACY THAN THIS LITTLE PATCH OF LAKEFRONT LAND CALLED NO MAN'S LAND .

TODAY, IT'S HOME TO THE HIGHLY CIVILIZED PLAZA DEL LAGO SHOPPING CENTER.

BUT BACK IN THE ROARING 20S, IT WAS AN OASIS OF IRREVERENT NIGHTLIFE ON THE OTHERWISE VERY PROPER NORTH SHORE.

BLAME IT ON THE INVENTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE.

THE STORY STARTS BACK IN 1836, WHEN A LAND SPECULATOR NAMED JOHN GAGE BOUGHT PROPERTY HERE.

WILMETTE ANNEXEDSOME OTHERS SPECULATE THAT WILMETTE AND KENILWORTH ANNEXATIONS STOPPED AT THE OLD SECTION LINES LAID OUT BY EARLY SURVEYORS WHO IGNORED TOPOGRAPHY, AND CREATED A SECTION MOSTLY IN THE LAKE.

GAGE DIED IN 1893.

AND FOR 30 YEARS, THE LAND WAS JUST IGNORED.

MEANWHILE, THE AUTOMOBILE WAS GAINING POPULARITY, AND NEWLY OPENED SHERIDAN ROAD BECAME A FAVORITE STRIP FOR CRUISERS.

THEY WERE YOUNG AND LOOKING FOR FUN.

MOST NORTH SHORE TOWNS HAD BLUE LAWS.

SO ACCORDING TO AUTHOR ROBERT SHAE, NO MAN'S LAND BECAME A MAGNET.

SHAE WRITES THAT "NO MAN'S LAND WAS THE ONLY UNINCORPORATED LAND ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD FROM CHICAGO ALL VHG WA[ AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO BTO WAWKGGCN.AL CHURCH. "

" ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD FROMSO KT"COUND"DGVGLOP AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO BUNHCMREREF BY"MWNKCKPCL"COD ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD FROMSOMGTKMG KN"TJE"1;22S.

AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO BGCGG'S JEKRS NECSGD"SOMG NA ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD FROMTO RESTCURANTGURS"WJO"ORENEF AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO B"VHG SHCCK," "TJE"PKNK COVT ALONG SHERIDAN ROAD FROMAND"TJE""VORNCDO VAVERN"ENEF AND THE LAND WAS TO BE SOLD TO BWJICH"WCS"IN C BUKLDINGCOVT THAT HAD ONCE BEEN HIT BY A TORNADO.

A FEW YEARS LATER, INVESTORS STARTED BUILDING NIGHTCLUBS AND RESORTS ON THE STRIP.

WILMETTE AND KENILWORTH WERE HORRIFIED.

A LOCAL PAPER DESCRIBED THE MYSTERIOUS DEVELOPERS OF THE BEACH CLUB VISTA DEL LAGO AS "HOLLYWOOD INTERESTS AND CHICAGO SPORTSMEN."

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD INVESTORS WAS LILLIAN GISH.

A 1400-SEAT MOVIE PALACE CALLED TEATRO DEL LAGO WAS BUILT IN 1927, AND SCANDALIZED NEIGHBORS BY SHOWING MOVIES ON SUNDAYS.

THERE WAS A MODERN CAR-ORIENTED SHOPPING CENTER CALLED SPANISH COURT.

THE MIRALAGO BALLROOM WAS DESCRIBED BY ONE MAGAZINE AS A "ROADHOUSE ON THE LAKE CATERING TO THE YOUNG SET OF AUTOMOBILING, JAZZ-DANCING NIGHT LIFERS."

MOST BUILDINGS WERE DESIGNED IN THE FASHIONABLE SPANISH STYLE OF THE ROARING 20S.

IF THERE WAS EVER ANY PRETENCE ABOUT A HIGH MORAL CHARACTER IN NO MAN'S LAND, IT ENDED WITH THE DEPRESSION.

SEVERAL OF THE CLUBS WENT OUT OF BUSINESS.

THEY WERE QUICKLY REPLACED BY GAMBLING HALLS AND SPEAKEASIES.

THE NEIGHBORS PROVED JUST HOW MUCH DISDAIN THEY HAD FOR NO MAN'S LAND WHEN A FIRE BROKE OUT AT THE MIRALAGO ON MARCH 8TH, 1932.

WINNETKA AND WILMETTE'S FIRE DEPARTMENTS JUST IGNORED THE CALL.

EVANSTON RESPONDED, BUT KENILWORTH CUT OFF THEIR WATER SUPPLY, AND THE MIRALAGO BURNED TO THE GROUND.

WITH THE END OF PROHIBITION IN 1933, ALCOHOL WAS SOLD OPENLY IN NO MAN'S LAND AND THAT WAS THE LAST STRAW.

WILMETTE FINALLY ANNEXED NO MAN'S LAND IN 1942 AND IMMEDIATELY DECLARED IT DRY.

BUT THE ICE CREAM SHOPS, FIREWORKS STANDS, FAST FOOD JOINTS AND GAS STATIONS STAYED IN BUSINESS FOR ANOTHER 20 YEARS.

OVER TIME, MODERN HIGH-RISE APARTMENT TOWERS REPLACED THE CRUMBLING RELICS.

THE MOVIE THEATRE WAS TORN DOWN AND SPANISH COURT BECAME PLAZA DEL LAGO.

THE SPANISH STYLE WAS PRESERVED, INCLUDING THE ORIGINAL BELL TOWER, BUT THE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE NOW REFLECTS THE FACT THAT IT'S A PART OF UPSCALE WILMETTE.

WILMETTE IS NAMED FOR THE FAMILY THAT MAY HAVE MADE THE WORST REAL ESTATE DECISION IN THE HISTORY OF THE NORTH SHORE.

IN 1829, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT GAVE THEM A THOUSAND ACRES OF LAKEFRONT LAND FREE AND CLEAR.

LESS THAN 20 YEARS LATER THEY SOLD IT FOR $3000 AND MOVED TO IOWA.

ANTOINE OUILMETTE, THAT'S SPELLED O-U-I-L-M-E-T-T-E, WAS A FRENCH-CANADIAN FUR TRADER AND ONE OF CHICAGO'S FIRST SETTLERS.

IN THE 1790S HE LIVED NEAR FORT DEARBORN AT MOUTH OF CHICAGO RIVER WITH HIS WIFE ARCHANGE CHEVALLIER, WHO WAS POTAWATOMI ON HER MOTHER'S SIDE.

SOURCES DIFFER ON WHY THE GOVERNMENT GAVE MRS. OUILMETTE ALL THAT LAND ON THE NORTH SHORE.

ACCORDING TO ONE SOURCE, IT WAS IN GRATITUDE TO THE COUPLE FOR SHELTERING TWO SURVIVORS OF THE FORT DEARBORN MASSACRE IN 1812.

THE LAND BECAME KNOWN AS THE OUILMETTE RESERVATION.

THEY WEREN'T VERY HAPPY HERE.

THEY HAD SOME TROUBLE WITH THE NEIGHBORS.

ANTOINE SUED ONE OF THEM FOR TRESPASSING AND LOST.

MOST OF ALL THEY MISSED THEIR NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIVES, WHO HAD BEEN FORCED TO MOVE WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI AFTER THE TREATY OF 1833.

BEFORE LONG, THEY MOVED WEST TO JOIN THEM.

WHEN THE RAILROAD CAME THROUGH IN THE 1850S, THERE WAS NO STOP IN WILMETTE.

SO IT REMAINED A FARM TOWN, AT ONE POINT CALLING ITSELF THE PICKLE CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.

LOCAL DEVELOPERS WERE SO EAGER TO SUBDIVIDE THE FARMLAND FOR HOMES THAT THEY BUILT A TRAIN STATION WITH THEIR OWN HANDS.

THEY CHOSE WAUKEGAN JUDGE HENRY BLODGETT AS A PARTNER BECAUSE HE WAS AN ADVISOR TO THE RAILROAD, AND THEY HOPED HE COULD USE HIS INFLUENCE TO CONVINCE THE TRAINLINE TO STOP THERE.

BLODGETT NAMED THE TOWN, USING A PHONETIC SPELLING.

THE FIRST HOMEBUYERS FOUND A FLEDGLING SUBURB WITH DIRT ROADS AND NO STREETLIGHTS.

COMMUTERS LEFT OIL LANTERNS AT THE DEPOT EACH MORNING SO THAT WHEN THEY RETURNED AT NIGHT THEY COULD FIND THEIR WAY HOME.

BUT BY THE 1890S, WILMETTE WAS WELL ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING AN UPPER MIDDLE CLASS NORTH SHORE SUBURB.

THE WESTERN PART OF TODAY'S WILMETTE WAS ACTUALLY A SEPARATE VILLAGE CALLED GROSS POINT.

IT WAS THE COMMERCIAL CENTER OF THE GERMAN FARMING COMMUNITY WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER.

GROSS POINT SUPPORTED ITSELF WITH TAX REVENUES FROM ITS 15 TAVERNS.

PROHIBITION CLOSED THEM DOWN.

IN 1919, THE TOWN VOTED TO DISSOLVE AND THE VILLAGE HALL WAS SOLD TO PAY OFF DEBTS.

THE VILLAGE HALL IS STILL STANDING.

IT'S NOW THE WILMETTE HISTORICAL MUSEUM.

AS CHICAGO AND ITS SUBURBS BOOMED IN THE 19TH CENTURY, THE SOGGY TERRAIN WENT FROM BEING A NUISANCE TO BEING A MAJOR HEALTH HAZARD.

SEWAGE INTERMINGLED WITH DRINKING WATER, AND OUTBREAKS OF DISEASE WERE COMMONPLACE.

THE CHICAGO SANITARY DISTRICT WAS CREATED FOR NO LESS A PURPOSE THAN TO DRAIN THE WHOLE REGION.

IN 1900, THEY BUILT A HUGE CANAL THAT REVERSED THE FLOW OF THE CHICAGO RIVER.

THEN, IN 1908 THEY BEGAN DIGGING THE NORTH SHORE CHANNEL, WHICH WENT RIGHT THROUGH WILMETTE.

THE TOWN MADE THE BEST OF IT, THOUGH.

THE MOUTH OF THE CHANNEL BECAME A BEAUTIFUL LAKEFRONT HARBOR, AND SOIL FROM THE CONSTRUCTION WAS USED AS LANDFILL TO CREATE GILLSON PARK, HOME OF THE WALLACE BOWL.

THE 2000-SEAT AMPHITHEATER WAS BUILT IN 1946 AS A WPA PROJECT.

TODAY IT'S A POPULAR SUMMER SPOT FOR COMMUNITY THEATRE PLAYS AND CONCERTS.

OVERLOOKING THE HARBOR IS ONE OF THE NORTH SHORE'S MOST FAMOUS LANDMARKS, THE BAHA'I HOUSE OF WORSHIP.

THE BAHA'I FAITH WAS INTRODUCED TO CHICAGO AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBKAN EXPOSITION OF 1893.

THE FOUNDER OF THE FAITH WAS A PERSIAN PROPHET NAMED BAHA'U'LLAH.

HE PREACHED THE ONENESS OF THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS AND PEOPLE.

SYMBOLS OF MANY WORLD RELIGIONS CAN BE FOUND IN THE LAVISH ORNAMENT.

THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNED BY LOUIS BOURGEOIS IN 1909.

CONSTRUCTION STARTED IN 1920, BUT THE BUILLING WASN'T FINISHED UNTIL 1953!

THE NINE ENTRANCES AND CIRCULAR FLOOR PLAN ARE PART OF BAHA'I RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM.

INSIDE, THE LACY DOME SOARS NEARLY 200 FEET OVERHEAD.

ACTOR AND COMEDIAN BILL MURRAY WAS RAISED IN WILMETTE.

HE HAD SEVEN SIBLINGS.

HE ACTED IN HIGH SCHOOL PLAYS AT THE LOYOLA ACADEMY, AND HELPED PAY HIS TUITION THERE BY WORKING AS A CADDY AT LOCAL COUNTRY CLUBS.

HE HONED HIS COMIC SKILLS AT CHICAGO'S LEGENDARY SECOND CITY.

LINDEN STREET IN WILMETTE IS THE END OF THE LINE FOR CHICAGO'S "L" TRAINS.

THE OLD PRAIRIE STYLE STATION HAS BEEN RESTORED AND IS NOW A BANK BRANCH.

IN DAYS GONE BY, THE NORTH SHORE LINE CONTINUED WEST FROM HERE AS A STREETCAR, EVENTUALLY REACHING THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN TRACKS, WHERE IT HEADED NORTH TO MILWAUKEE.

THE LAST SURVIVING FRAGMENT OF THE NORTH SHORE LINE'S SKOKIE VALLEY BRANCH IS THE SKOKIE SWIFT, NOW A PART OF THE "L" SYSTEM.

IT ENDS AT DEMPSTER STREET IN SKOKIE WHERE YOU'LL FIND ANOTHER OLD PRAIRIE STYLE STATION.

PLANS CALL FOR IT TO BE RESTORED.

SKOKIE CALLS ITSELF THE WORLD'S LARGEST VILLAGE, AND WITH A POPULATION OF 60,000, IT REALLY IS THE LARGEST MUNICIPALITY IN THE COUNTRY THAT USES THE VILLAGE MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT.

BUT IT WASN'T UNTIL AFTER WORLD WAR II THAT THE POPULATION BOOMED HERE.

FOR A HUNDRED YEARS IT WAS A SMALL FARM TOWN CALLED NILES CENTER.

IT WAS SETTLED BY A PRUSSIAN IMMIGRANT NAMED HENRY HARMS, AT A PLACE WHERE FOUR INDIAN TRAILS CAME TOGETHER.

TODAY THOSE TRAILS ARE DIAGONAL STREETS LIKE GROSS POINT AND NILES CENTER.

HENRY HARMS WAS NOTHING IF NOT AMBITIOUS.

HE OWNED THE GENERAL STORE AND SERVED AS POSTMASTER, CONSTABLE, AND DRAINAGE COMMISSIONER, WHICH WAS A TITLE OF SOME IMPORTANCE IN A PLACE THAT WOULD LATER TAKE ITS NAME FROM THE INDIAN WORD FOR SWAMP.

HE BUILT THE LINCOLN AVENUE PLANK ROAD, AND OWNED THE TOLL GATES ALL THE WAY TO HALSTED STREET IN C LIKE HENRY HARMS, MO[T Of SKOK EARETTLERS WERE FROM GERMANIC COUNTRIES.

IN THE 1950S,((WS BEGAN MIGRATI% FROM TRADITIONAL ENCLAVES IN CHIKAGO.

THE NILES TOWNSHIP JEWISH CONGREGATION HELD THE FIRST EVER JEWISH SERVICE IN SKOKIE ON MAY 16, 1952.

BY THE 1980S, MORE HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS LIVED IN THE VILLAGE THAN IN CHICAGO OR ANY OTHER SUBURB.

SKOKIE ERECTED A HOLOUST N 19 DESIGNED BY CHICAGO ARTIST BERT GAST.

IT'S INSCRIBED WITH THE NAMES OF SIX EXTERMINATION CAMPS;ONE FROM BOOK OF LAMENTATIONS IN HEBREW AND ENGLISH.

IT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU TO LEARN THAT TODAY JEWS MAKE UP LESS THAN HALF THE POPULATION IN SKOKIE.

ACCORDING TO LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE, CHURCHES OUTNUMBER SYNAGOGUES HERE.

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE CALLED SKOKIE THE ELLIS ISLAND OF THE NORTH SHORE.

JUST AS IN THE 1950S, IT'S THE GOOD SCHOOLS, THE SAFE NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING, THAT MAKES SKOKIE AN IDEAL ENTRY POINT FOR MIGRATION TO THE NORTH SHORE.

THE LAST STOP ON OUR TOUR IS THE FIRST SUBURB ON CHICAGO'S NORTH SHORE, EVANSTON.

NOW, IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE EARLY HISTORY OF EVANSTON, YOU'VE PROBABLY HEARD THAT IT LED THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE EVILS OF ALCOHOL.

SO IT'S MORE THAN A LITTLE FUNNY THAT EVANSTON'S FIRST PERMANENT BUILDING WAS MORE OR LESS A LIQUOR STORE.

IT WAS A LOG CABIN BUILT BY ABRAHAM HATHAWAY IN 1834.

AN EARLY HISTORIAN CALLED IT "THE HEADQUARTERS OF COUNTERFEITERS AND FUGITIVES FROM JUSTICE, AND GENERALLY SPEAKING A VILE RESORT."

BUT TEMPERANCE WOULD COME TO EVANSTON SOON ENOUGH.

IT CAME WITH THE FOUNDING OF NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY IN 1855.

THE SCHOOL'S FOUNDERS WERE NINE DEVOUT METHODISTS, AND ITS CHARTER FORBADE THE SALE OF ALCOHOL WITHIN FOUR MILES OF CAMPUS.

THE FOUNDERS PICKED EVANSTON, THEN CALLED RIDGEVILLE, BECAUSE IT WAS WELL AWAY FROM THE VICES OF CHICAGO.

IN 1857, THE TOWN WAS RE-NAMED EVANSTON, IN HONOR OF ONE OF THOSE METHODIST FOUNDERS, JOHN EVANS.

HE WAS A PROMINENT PHYSICIAN, FOUNDER OF THE ILLINOIS REPUBLICAN PARTY AND A CLOSE CONFIDANTE OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN'S.

MOST NORTH SHORE SUBURBS FOLLOWED EVANSTON'S LEAD AND BANNED ALCOHOL AS SOON AS THEY INCORPORATED.

BUT GROSS POINT WITH ITS 15 SALOONS, AND NILES CENTER WHICH HAD SIX, WERE BOTH WITHIN THE 4-MILE LIMIT, AND BECAME FREQUENT TARGETS OF TEMPERANCE CRUSADERS.

THE MOST FAMOUS TEMPERANCE CRUSADER OF ALL WAS FRANCES WILLARD, WHO QUIT HER POST AS NORTHWESTERN'S DEAN OF WOMEN IN 1874 AND BECAME PRESIDENT OF THE WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.

AS HEAD OF THE LARGEST WOMEN'S ORGANIZATION IN THE COUNTRY WILLARD BECAME THE MOST FAMOUS WOMAN OF HER DAY, AND HER WORK WENT FAR BEYOND FIGHTING ALCOHOLISM.

SHE LOBBIED FOR WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE AND WAS AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACROSS THE BOARD.

SHE WAS ALSO A LABOR ACTIVIST AND A RADICAL SOCIAL REFORMER.

WILLARD SERVED THE WCTU FOR 20 YEARS, UNTIL HER DEATH IN 1898 AT AGE 58.

EVANSTON'S 117 YEAR DRY SPELL ENDED IN 1972, WHEN RESTAURANTS WERE PERMITTED TO SERVE ALCOHOL.

BUT IT WAS 12 MORE YEARS BEFORE EVANSTON GOT ITS FIRST LIQUOR STORE.

EVANSTON IS ONE OF MANY TOWNS THAT CLAIMS TO HAVE INVENTED THE ICE CREAM SUNDAE AS A RESPONSE TO LIQUOR LAWS.

BUT I LIKE EVANSTON'S TWIST ON THE STORY.

NOW IN MOST TOWNS, WE'RE TOLD THAT BECAUSE LIQUOR COULN'T BE SERVED ON SUNDAYS, A DECADENT ICE CREAM CONCOCTION WAS SERVED INSTEAD.

BUT, OF COURSE, ALCHCOHOL WAS BANNED EVERY DAY IN EVANSTON.

TO MAKE SUNDAYS EVEN DRIER, SODA WATER WAS BANNED, BECAUSE IT'S USED IN MIXED DRINKS.

SO AN EVANSTON DRUG STORE STARTED SERVING UP ICE CREAM SODAS WITHOUT THE SODA WATER ON SUNDAYS.

THEN IT WAS THE NAME OF THE CONFECTION THAT BECAME OFFENSIVE, AND THAT'S WHERE THE CREATIVE SPELLING COMES FROM.

TODAY NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY IS ONE OF THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AND COMPETITIVE SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY, WELL KNOWN FOR THE MEDILL SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM, THE KELLOGG GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, AND THE SCHOOL OF SPEECH, NOW CALLED THE COMMUNICATION SCHOOL.

ITS FACULTY AND GRADUATES HAVE WON NUMEROUS TONYS, EMMYS AND OSCARS.

IT'S THE ONLY PRIVATE SCHOOL IN THE BIG TEN.

AS THE UNIVERSITY GREW, SO DID THE TINY COLLEGE TOWN OF EVANSTON.

SOME OF THE NORTH SHORE'S FINEST HOMES WERE BUILT HERE.

MANY ARE IN THE LAKESHORE HISTORIC DISTRICT.

A LARGE PART OF THE DISTRICT WAS ONCE THE LAKEFRONT ESTATE OF CHICAGO CITY PLANNER DANIEL BURNHAM.

THE PROPERTY WAS LATER SUBDIVIDED.

THE MOST DAZZLING OF EVANSTON'S ELEGANT HOMES IS THE CHARLES GATES DAWES HOUSE, BUILT FOR NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY'S TREASURER IN 1894.

IT'S BEEN RESTORED TO ITS 1909 CONDITION WHEN DAWES BOUGHT IT.

HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT UNDER CALVIN COOLIDGE AND WON THE NOBEL PRIZE FOR HIS PLAN TO RESTORE EUROPE'S SHATTERED ECONOMY AFTER WORLD WAR I.

IT'S NOW THE HOME OF THE EVANSTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

A NOVICE ARCHITECT DESIGNED ONE OF EVANSTON'S NEWEST SHOW PIECES, THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, COMPLETED IN 1991.

IT WAS 28-YEAR-OLD JOSEPH POWELL'S FIRST BUILDING.

HE WAS OUT OF WORK AND HIS WIFE WAS PREGNANT WHEN HE ENTERED THE COMPETITION TO DESIGN THE LIBRARY.

HIS IMPRESSIVE PRAIRIE-INSPIRED DESIGN EARNED HIM MANY MORE LIBRARY COMMISSIONS.

THE HANGING SCULPTURE IN THE GRAND ENTRANCE IS CALLED "GHOSTWRITER" IT'S SO COMPLEX IT LOOKS LIKE IT A ROCKET SCIENTIST DESIGNED IT.

AND IN FACT, THE ARTIST RALPH HELMICK DID COLLABORATE WITH A ROCKET SCIENTIST STUART SCHECTER.

USING A POWERFUL COMPUTER, THEY POSITIONED THE 2,500 TINY ALUMINUM OBJECTS ON 900 WIRES TO CREATE A HUMAN HEAD WITH A SPIRAL REPRESENTING CREATIVITY AND IMAGINATION RUNNING THROUGH IT.

THE HEAD IS ANDROGYNOUS AND MULTI-RACIAL, REFLECTING THE CITY'S DIVERSITY.

EVANSTON HAS THE LARGEST AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION ON THE NORTH SHORE.

THE SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH WAS FORMED IN 1870.

IN 1911, THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN BOY SCOUT TROOP IN THE COUNTRY WAS FORMED IN EVANSTON, AT LEAST IN PART BECAUSE WHITE TROOPS REFUSED TO ACCEPT BLACK MEMBERS.

IN EVANSTON AS ELSEWHERE, AFRICAN AMERICANS FACED DISCRIMINATION.

IN HOUSING, RECREATION AND EDUCATION.

NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS AND OTHERS DEMONSTATED FOR EQUAL RIGHTS THERE.

ONE OUTSPOKEN BLACK LEADER WAS MEDILL GRADUATE EDWIN B. JOURDAIN, WHO BECAME MANAGING EDITOR OF THE CHICAGO DEFENDER AND WAS ELECTED EVANSTON'S FIRST BLACK ALDERMAN.

TODAY, THIS COMMUNITY CENTER IS NAMED FOR HIM.

EVANSTON'S LAKEFRONT IS ITS MOST PRIZED ASSET.

BUT JUST BENEATH THE SURFACE LIE TREACHEROUS SHALLOWS.

IN THE HEYDAY OF LAKE SHIPPING, THE WATERS OFF THE NORTH SHORE WERE THE DEADLIEST ON THE GREAT LAKES, ACCORDING TO AUTHOR MARK S. BRAUN.

THE DEADLIEST DAY OF ALL WAS SEPTEMBER 8TH 1860, WHEN THE STEAMER LADY ELGIN COLLIDED WITH A CARGO SCHOONER AFTER MIDNIGHT IN A THUNDERSTORM.

THE CRIPPLED SCHOONER MADE IT BACK TO CHICAGO.

BUT IN LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR, THE LADY ELGIN SANK.

SURVIVORS CLUNG TO FLOATING DEBRIS AS THE STORM BLEW THEM TOWARD SHORE NINE MILES AWAY.

BUT AS THEY NEARED WILMETTE BEACH, POUNDING SURF BROKE UP THE MAKESHIFT RAFTS AND MANY VICTIMS WERE DRAWN BACK OUT TO SEA -- BEFORE THE EYES OF HELPLESS ONLOOKERS.

OF THE LADY ELGIN'S 400 PASSENGERS, 297 PERISHED.

THE NEAREST LIFEBOAT WAS 15 MILES AWAY IN THE CHICAGO RIVER.

A NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY STUDENT WAS THE BIGGEST HERO ON THAT AWFUL DAY.

EDWARD SPENCER TIED A ROPE AROUND HIS WAIST AND SWAM OUT INTO THE SURF 17 TIMES, RETURNING EACH TIME WITH A SURVIVOR.

THEN HE COLLAPSED FROM EXHAUSTION AND WAS TAKEN HOME TO RECOVER.

IN THE COMING YEARS, NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS WOULD SAVE MANY MORE LIVES.

THE GOVERNMENT SET UP A LIFESAVING STATION ON THE BEACH AT NORTHWESTERN.

IN 1880, CAPTAIN LAWRENCE OSCAR LAWSON TOOK CHARGE OF A SQUAD OF TRAINED STUDENTS THERE.

WHEN A SHIP WAS REPORTED SINKING, THE YOUNG MEN HAULED THEIR LIFEBOAT UP THE NORTH SHORE USING A TEAM OF HORSES OR SOMETIMES A PASSING TRAIN, THEN THEY CARRIED IT DOWN STEEP BLUFFS TO THE BEACH, AND ROWED OUT INTO THE STORMY SEAS.

OVER THE YEARS, NORTHWESTERN LIFESAVERS RESCUED THE CREWS OF MORE THAN 40 SINKING SHIPS.

THE STATION WAS DISBANDED IN 1915 WHEN THE U.S. COAST GUARD WAS CREATED.

A LIVING REMINDER OF THAT PERILOUS ERA IS GROSSE POINT LIGHTHOUSE, WHICH WENT INTO SERVICE IN 1874.

ITS LIGHT WAS VISIBLE FOR 17 MILES OUT AT SEA.

WITH THE DECLINE OF LAKE SHIPPING, IT WAS DECOMMISSIONED IN 1935.

IT WAS RESTORED IN THE 1970S.

TODAY IT'S A NATIONAL LANDMARK, OWNED BY THE CITY OF EVANSTON, WHICH KEEPS THE LIGHT SHINING.

IT'S A FAMILIAR BEACON TO PLEASURE BOATERS ALONG THE NORTH SHORE.

WHETHER BY THE LAKE, OR BY PRIMITIVE TRAILS, BY STEAM TRAINS OR SUPERHIGHWAYS, THE NORTH SHORE HAS ALWAYS DRAWN PEOPLE TO IT.

SETTLERS LOOKING FOR A BETTER FUTURE.

CITY DWELLERS LOOKING FOR FRESH AIR AND OPEN SPACE.

SHOPPERS, WORKERS, CONCERTGOERS OR JUST SIGHTSEERS LOOKING TO GLIMPSE THE LIFESTYLES OF THE RICH AND FAMOUS.

IT'S ONE OF AMERICA'S LEGENDARY ENCLAVES, INSPIRING AWE AND ENVY.

IT'S A HUMBLE HOME, AND IT'S THE AMERICAN DREAM IN THE EXTREME.

IT'S CHICAGO'S NORTH SHORE.