Lake Bluff Stories
Explore Our Quirky Past!
Wendy Miller and the Chicago Marathon
If you can organize a Lake Bluff Marathon, the obvious next step is to start one in Chicago, according to longtime village resident Wendy Miller. more...
Lake Bluff Grads: Today and Yesteryear
For the first half of the 20th century, Lake Bluff Middle School's 8th grade graduation was held in an open-air theatre designed by Howard Van Doren Shaw. more...
Bridges of Old Lake Bluff
Imagine arriving at a ravine back when riding horses and driving teams were the main modes of travel in Lake Bluff. … Whoa, Nelly! ... With no way for horses to traverse the slope, you’d have to head west for a work-around. more...
Henry Blodgett Heads West
If you think modern transportation is challenging, consider what Judge Henry Blodgett and his family went through to get to Illinois from Massachusetts in 1831 when he was a boy of 10. more...
All Aboard!
Traffic on E. Sheridan Place can back up a bit due to the cars, bikes, scooters and pedestrians heading to and from Lake Bluff Middle School. But in the late 19th century when Lake Bluff was a summer resort, traffic was caused by a railroad that ran in the middle of the street. more...
Cold Courage: Lake Rescue 1949
It was around 5 pm on January 28, 1949, at the frozen tundra that was Lake Bluff beach. Darkness was sinking into the indigo of daylight, and two local boys who should have been anywhere but there were playing on ice that extended out onto the lake 50 feet from shore. more...
Hard Times Party
Times were hard around the world in October of 1914, as war careened through Europe and the U.S. economy was in recession. In Lake Bluff, villagers were making do as best they could. One group decided to throw a “Hard Times Party.” more...
Janet Nelson Looks Back
Janet Nelson shared memories of her 60-plus years in Lake Bluff, including raising a family, running the elementary school and co-founding Lake Bluff History Museum. more...
The Little White School
Illinois law states that when a community reaches the population threshold of 1,000 people, it must elect a school board. more...
Remembering Evelyn Wilson Brown
Evelyn Wilson Brown, Lake Bluff's pioneering conservationist, helped restore Lake Bluff natural beauty throughout the twentieth century. more...
Jack Schuler & Crab Tree Farm
When Jack Schuler arrived at Crab Tree Farm, the bluff was at risk of collapse and development loomed over the storied 250-acre property. more...
Farewell to the Stearns Chimney
The Stearns Chimney has fallen. We hope the majestic remnant chimney that spanned three centuries overlooking Lake Michigan made a crashing roar when the last of its yellow-pink bricks dislodged and tumbled down the bluff more...
Lillian Dell’s Drive: The Ups & Downs
Lillian Dell’s Drive is a long, meandering ravine-bed path that was pivotal to Native Americans, pioneers, summer guests and year-round villagers alike. But who was Lillian Dell? more...
Christmas at Lake Bluff Orphanage
Orphanage: the word conjures visions of dour, cold institutions with hungry children. A place where Christmas never happens. The Lake Bluff Orphanage, known as the Lake Bluff Children’s Home since 1955, was different. more...
A Bridge To Nowhere
One hundred years ago, the Moffett Bridge at Sylvan Road and Ravine Avenue caused a major rift between Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. more...
What Is This Place?
Just what is that knobby-concrete building that looks like it’s been at 611 Walnut Avenue forever? The Walnut Garage has a long, interesting history that reflects the Village’s own narrative arc. more...
The BenIda Chronicles
Ben Cloes was the youngest son of Lake Bluff’s first settlers. He and his wife Ida played a major role in Lake Bluff’s transformation from pioneer settlement to summer resort to incorporated Village. more...
Sunrise Surprise
Lake Bluff's lakefront park on Sunrise Avenue is called Sunrise Park today. But it wasn't always that way. more...
Wild Beasts of Yore
Early Lake Bluff setters encountered many of the wild beasts that we see today, including coyotes, fox, raccoon and groundhog. They also lived amongst wild pigeons, wolves and even the occasional panther. more...
Puppetry Magic
Longtime Lake Bluff resident and educator Margaret Lindman created a magic world where stories are brought to life through artful performances featuring marionettes and hand puppets, which she lovingly created in her Lake Bluff home. more...
Leaning Tower of Pigeons
There is no clock in Village Hall tower, and there never has been. This will come as no surprise to those who have lived in Lake Bluff for at least a quarter of a century, but it’s true. more...
Nature’s Leafiest Temple
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr coined this phrase in Paris in 1849, but the words could easily describe Lake Bluff at any point in its history. more...
Sledding Hill on the Prairie
Sledding is one of the best things about winter in prairie-flat Lake Bluff. For decades before the Park District sledding hill was built in 1994, kids would sled in the ravines and on the beach road. more...
What Does ‘Sparking’ Mean
The Prohibition movement had roots in early Lake Bluff, but not everyone was a fan, especially not members of The Kelly Klub. more...
Turkey Talk
A wild turkey took up residence in the Rockland Wetlands at Green Bay and Rockland roads in 2010, captivating people from all over the place. more...
Washing Up Local History
Margaret Hawkins Rockwell was a fixture to generations of Lake Bluff school children. You know what else was really cool? Her wash tub. more...
Checking in on Lake Bluff Hotels
From the 1870s to the 1890s, Lake Bluff had 30 hotels and boarding houses. But then, who wouldn’t want to summer here? more...
Lake Bluff’s Irish Roots
The go-to place in the earliest days of Lake Bluff was an Irish pub called the Dwyer tavern, owned by William and Mary Dwyer and Mary’s brother Dr. Richard Murphy. more...