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Wauconda Township Historical Society 711 N. Main St., Wauconda, Ill. 60084 E-mail: wauconda.history@gmail.com Tel.: 847.526.9303
Newsletter Autumn/Winter, 2009
It’s been a great summer for the Wauconda Township Historical Society! On Sunday, 26th July, in conjunction with the Wauconda Area Public Library, we hosted an open house/ice cream social at the Andrew C. Cook House. We had 126 visitors that day, some of them from out of town. Doris Aimers-Voss was dressed in period costume (except for the Chicago Cubs earrings! ) to provide a visual link to the history of the house. Many of those who attended told me that they’d always wanted to see the Cook House but had never been able to get in. Thanks to everyone from the historical society who turned up to welcome visitors and answer questions; to Terri Suda at the library for organizing and publicizing the event; and to Austin Berrelez and Alex Frey, the young men who volunteered their time to help out serving ice cream. In addition to the open house, we’ve had several informative presentations about aspects of the area’s history. On the 6th of July, Volo’s mayor, Mr. Burnell Russell, gave a presentation on the incorporation of that village. Although Volo has existed as a community as long as Wauconda has, it is only recently that they actually incorporated as a village. It was interesting to hear about the challenges Volo’s leaders faced in bringing this about. Dale Buttolph gave a talk on the Palatine, Lake Zurich & Wauconda Railway line, which was an important part of Wauconda’s history, bringing vacationers to Bangs Lake in the days before people drove everywhere and roads were reliable. Throughout its existence, the P, LZ & W contributed to the town’s reputation and growth, and it has been a topic of interest to area residents ever since. Though many of its residents are
unaware of this, Lake County was once known for its dairy farms. As
recently as the 1960s there were 300 dairy farms in the county.
To  Nate Janssen with a photo of some of Golden Oaks Farm’s prized calves; the photos on the wall are of university students who have taken part in Golden Oaks’s internship programme. OTHER NEWS: We’ve had a number of visitors from out of town in recent months, most of them descendants of people who once lived in the area. One woman found an obituary at the Cook House that gave her information she’s been seeking for years! She left a donation to the Cook House, and another one to the library. Recently it was noticed that several of our older photographs were looking a bit bleached out from the sun! Doris Aimers took them to Osco for restoration, and the people at Osco did a great job with them. We are now in the process of obtaining UV protection for these irreplaceable photos. The Cook House burglar/fire alarm has been giving us trouble for several weeks. For a while, every time somebody went into the house, the police came running. We are in the process of having this fixed, but in the meantime, our thanks to the Wauconda Police (and the fire department) for their patience. It’s good to know that they respond so quickly! Finally, several members now receive this newsletter by email. This saves us money, and it’s better for the environment. If you are able to take the newsletter electronically, please let us know so we can add you to the list. Thanks to those of you who are already doing this! COMING UP . . . There will be no general meeting in November. The next general gathering will be the Christmas social, to be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 2nd December, at the Township offices on Bonner Road. If you plan to join us, please contact Cindy Bilisko at 847.366.3344. Let her know what dish you plan to bring. This will help enormously in planning. Hope to see you at the Cook House soon! Newsletter: Lynn McAlister Photographs:Golden Oaks Farm presentation – Doris Aimers-Voss Cook House photo – Elizabeth Greenup, Wauconda Area Public Library
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