GA_042519

14 | April 25, 2019 | The glencoe anchor sound off
glencoeanchor.com
THE WILMETTE BEACON
Kenilworth building codes
updated for first time in
decade
The Kenilworth Village
Board approved an update
to the Village’s building
codes, which were last updated
10 years ago.
The board approved the
update of Chapter 150 of
the Kenilworth Village
Code covering building
regulations during its regular
board meeting April 15.
Prior to the vote, Community
Development Director
Susan Criezis noted
the building code previously
in effect dates back
to 2006; the amendment
approved Monday night
brings the Village’s code
in line with 2015 regulations.
“Other villages have
been going through the
same process as us of go-
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ing through the update
this past year,” she said.
“There have been many
changes in building materials,
processes — so there
are many reasons for us
to update our code so that
we’ll be current with those
and we can respond to
what’s appropriate.”
Various national building
organizations, including
the International Code
Council and National Fire
Protection Association,
formulate building codes
and update them every
three years.
Village staff have
worked on updating the
Village’s building codes
with consultant SAFEbuilt
over the last nine months,
a summary included in the
board packet noted. SAFEbuilt
has also worked with
the Village of Winnetka to
do the same thing, “it is
the intent that both communities
will follow substantially
the same codes,”
the board packet summary
stated.
Criezis pointed out
a change in residential
building codes calls for
sprinkler systems in new
homes.
“That’s been the big
issue nationwide about
single-family homes,” she
said.
Reporting by Fouad Egbaria,
Freelance Reporter. Full
story at WilmetteBeacon.
com.
THE LAKE FOREST LEADER
Lake Forest approves
beach parking plan as
North Beach Access Road
construction begins
Accessing and parking
near the beach in Lake
Please see nfyn, 15
Glencoe: Yesterday and Today
Glencoe founder was a man of vision
Glencoe Historical
Society
Contributing Columnist
The Village of Glencoe
was incorporated
150 years ago by
a group of 10 real estate
investors who called
themselves The Glencoe
Company. The leader of
that Company was Dr. Alexander
Hammond, who
is rightly recognized as
the founder of the village.
Of the 10 investors,
Hammond was the man
with the vision.
He was born on Sept.
28, 1818 in a relatively
poor region in Homer,
New York, attended the
Cortland Academy and
then went on to the Berkshire
Medical Institution
in a remote part of western
Massachusetts.
After graduation, he
married Caroline Austin in
1848 and settled in Skaneateles,
New York, near
her family. In addition to
building a successful medical
practice, he also kept
a drug store in the town,
but was not satisfied with
the amount of business he
received. He resolved to
make a home somewhere
in the West — which at
that time extended only to
the Missouri River.
Following his dream,
Hammond bought 320
acres of wild prairie four
miles from the city of
Rockford, Ill. in 1856 and
became a wheat farmer.
Despite extraordinary
success, Hammond still
was not satisfied. He
“resolved to sell the farm
and to seek a home … in
a suburb of a large city,
embracing both the love
of nature and the attractions
of the city.”
In 1866, he “learned
that Glencoe was for sale,
which was then a lonely
station by one house, and
half mile from any other.
… It was a stock farm of
525 acres, … owned by
Walter Gurnee, who had
been a prominent citizen
of Chicago, once Mayor,
and an influential man
in the early days of the
Chicago and Milwaukee
Railroad.”
Hammond was impressed
because Gurnee
had made some improvements
to the property,
including a “large but
plain and homely house
and barn.” That house is
what we now know as The
Castle. Hammond made
an initial offer, waited a
day and became impatient
when he failed to receive
a response. Fearful that
someone else might buy
the property, Hammond
upped his offer to the
asking price of $50,000.
Gurnee agreed.
On April 1, 1867, Hammond
moved his family
to what would become
Glencoe, took possession
of the farm and started
to work on the project of
building a town. In late
1867, Hammond received
a call from Charles E.
Browne, of Evanston inquiring
about the project.
Hammond said his plan
was to sell a 1/10 interest
in the property to nine
other parties, who with
Hammond, would make
a company of ten having
an undivided equal share
in the Gurnee farm’s 500
Dr. Alexander Hammond
was the founder of the
Village of Glencoe. Photo
Submitted
acres and an additional
160 acres of Skokie wetland.
Hammond wanted each
of the parties to agree to
build two homes, one to
live in and one to sell, as
a way of showing commitment
to improving the
property. Browne liked the
idea and offered not only
to become one of the ten
but also to solicit others to
complete the group.
If Hammond was the
man with the vision,
Charles E. Browne was
the man with the organization
to bring that vision to
life. He was an old real
estate operator with many
connections and quickly
secured eight other
investors to complete
the company in February
of 1868. The Village of
Glencoe was incorporated
a year later and the rest,
as they say, is the history
that we now celebrate 150
years later.
Glencoe: Yesterday and
Today is a biweekly column
submitted by the Glencoe
Historical Society. Do you
know a resident – living or
dead – who deserves consideration
for the Glencoe Sesquicentennial
Hall of Fame?
Go to www.glencoehistory.
org or www.glencoe150.org.