Editing Blue Island, Illinois (section)

==History==
===Uptown===
[[File:Blue Island House.JPG|thumb|left|Blue Island House]]
[[File:Blue Island Opera House.JPG|thumb|left|Blue Island Opera House]]

Norman Rexford came to Chicago from [[Charlotte, Vermont]] in 1835 and in 1836 became the first permanent settler of Blue Island when he established the Blue Island House near the intersection of present-day Western Avenue and Gregory Street just north of the Western Avenue bridge.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=VtwSAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22BLUE+ISLAND+HOUSE%22&pg=PA331 Goodspeed, Weston Arthur, and Daniel David Healy. ''History of Cook County, Illinois: Being a General Survey of Cook County History, Including a Condensed History of Chicago and Special Account of Districts Outside the City Limits; from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time''], published by the Goodspeed Historical Association, 1909. Item notes: v. 2. Original from Harvard University</ref> Before Rexford built the Blue Island House he had constructed a four-room log cabin in the wilderness at the north end of the Blue Island ridge that he intended as a tavern for wayfarers, but after a year realized that the place was not likely to be profitable for him and began to look for another site where he might have more success. Although farther from [[Fort Dearborn]] and the settlement at [[Chicago]] (which by that time was incorporated and had a population of several thousand persons) by about {{convert|3|mi|0}}, the new inn was better situated because it was located on the Wabash Road (in Blue Island now Western Avenue), which was then a part of the Vincennes trail that went from Chicago to [[Vincennes, Indiana]]. It was considerably larger and more refined than Rexford's previous venture, being a two-and-a half-story white frame building that also had various outbuildings to accommodate the needs of his guests. Because it was a day's journey from Chicago, within a few years the inn became the nucleus for a group of businesses that catered to the soldiers, cattlemen (with their herds) and other travelers who arrived by [[stagecoach]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Oswald |first1=Joseph C. |author2=The Ridge Historical Society |title=Images of America – Chicago's Beverly Hills/Morgan Park neighborhood |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l27bnUowdpYC&q=stagecoach+blue+island&pg=PA9 |access-date=2009-02-14 |isbn=978-0-7385-3153-3}}</ref> or otherwise frequented the Vincennes trail. Events hosted by the inn frequently lasted until the small hours of the morning, requiring an overnight stay before guests returned the next morning to their homes and places of business in Chicago and the hinterland.<ref>{{cite news | title=How Chicago's suburbs were platted and named – No. 3 Southern District| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune| volume=28|date=March 4, 1900| pages=37}}</ref>

Through the 1970s, Blue Island's [[central business district]] ("uptown" to the locals) was regarded as an important regional commercial center, with stores such as [[F. W. Woolworth Company|Woolworth's]], Kline's, [[Sears, Roebuck and Company|Sears]], [[Montgomery Ward]], [[Spiegel (catalog)|Spiegel]] and [[Steak 'n Shake]].<ref>{{cite web |author1=Curt Teich & Co. |author2=North Suburban Library System |title=Western Ave., Blue Island, Ill. |publisher=Aero Distributing Co., Chicago, IL |year=1921 |url=http://www.digitalpast.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/lakecoun004&CISOPTR=5049&REC=8|access-date=2009-02-17}}</ref> Today, downtown Blue Island is better known for its antique stores, art galleries, ethnic delicatessens and fine dining. Much of this shift in business activity has been brought on by "[[big-box store|big box]]" development outside of town that space constraints make it impossible for uptown to accommodate. However, several local businesses have served the area for generations: DeMar's Restaurant, for example, opened its doors in 1950; Jebens Hardware was established in 1876; and Krueger Funeral Home was founded in 1858. In the 21st century, the city and a dedicated group of volunteers, working with the Metropolitan Planning Council of Chicago<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metroplanning.org/ |title=Metropolitan Planning Council – Home |publisher=Metropolitan Planning Council}}</ref> and the [[Center for Neighborhood Technology]] devised the ''Blue Island Plan for Economic Development'', which addresses not only the commercial expansion of the historic uptown business district, but also the continued improvement of the housing stock and industrial base.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnt.org/repository/BlueIslandExecSummary.pdf |title=Blue Island Plan for Economic Development |publisher=cnt.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511152209/http://www.cnt.org/repository/BlueIslandExecSummary.pdf |archive-date=2008-05-11 }}</ref>

The Blue Island Opera House<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/3549.html The Encyclopedia of Chicago – Blue Island Opera House, 1908]</ref> was built by Blue Island's first mayor John L. Zacharias to replace the Robinson Block, which was destroyed by the Great Blue Island Fire of that year. The opera house was host to [[vaudeville]] and [[repertory|repertoire]] shows until 1913, when it became the Grand Theater and a venue for [[film|motion pictures]]. In later years the building was home to the Blue Island ''Sun-Standard'' newspaper and Kline's Department Store. Although the auditorium has been remodeled out of existence, the building, with its award-winning exterior restoration, today provides both commercial and office space to the historic "uptown" district. The building has been designated as a landmark<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blueisland.org/historic/landmark-tour/41-opera/ |title=Blue Island Opera House |author=jason |publisher=City of Blue Island|date=2009-10-24 }}</ref> by the Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.blueisland.org/historic/ |title=Historic Landmark & District Requirements |author=jodi |publisher=City of Blue Island|date=2008-05-15 }}</ref> It was designed by the American/Canadian architect Hugh Griffith Jones, who also designed Blue Island's first Greenwood School (demolished) and a commercial building with a flat above (c. 1895, extant, also now a city landmark) for Albert and Emma Schmidt at 312 (now 13022) Western Avenue. The architect's drawings for the opera house were used by Jones in the package he prepared to justify his successful application for membership in the [[Royal Architectural Institute of Canada]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionaryofarchitectsincanada.org/node/1541/ |title=Hugh Griffith Jones|publisher=Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada 1850–1950}}</ref>

[[Moraine Valley Community College]] operates a satellite facility uptown.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morainevalley.edu/ |title=Homepage |publisher=Moraine Valley Community College}}</ref>

===The Blue Island Market===
[[File:Market Day c. 1915.JPG|thumb|right|The Blue Island Market, circa 1915, looking west on Broadway from Western Avenue.]]

For many years on the first Thursday of every month, Western Avenue south of the canal and to the city limits on 139th Street was host to an open-air market, the Blue Island Market, more commonly known as Market Day. The market was a place where farmers from a wide area surrounding Blue Island came to town to sell their wares to each other and to the public at large.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Broden |first=Scott |title=Street of Dreams – Blue Island's Olde Western Avenue Was Once a Bustling Place on Market Day, Now After Harder Times, It's seeing a Rebirth. |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |pages=1, Tempo Southwest |date=November 19, 1995 |no-pp=true }}</ref> As the postcard image to the right shows, items offered included produce, farm equipment, and livestock, with a local band thrown in to provide entertainment. Market Day began sometime in the last quarter of the 19th century and lasted until May 1924, when it was closed by the city council after a gradual influx of peddlers offering shoddy merchandise discouraged farmer participation and the market was deemed a public nuisance.<ref name="The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n7ORPQAACAAJ&q=The+First+Hundred+Years+-+1835%E2%80%931935,+an+Historical+Review+of+Blue+Island,+Illinois |title=The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935, an Historical Review of Blue Island, Illinois |last=Volp |first=John Henry |year=1938 |publisher=Blue Island Publishing |location=Blue Island |access-date=April 25, 2017}}</ref>{{rp|148}}

===Brickyards===
After it was discovered in the early 1850s that rich deposits of clay surrounded the ridge, Blue Island became the center of a significant [[brick]]-making industry that lasted for over a century. In the early years, these efforts were small, with the bricks being made by hand and the turnout created mostly for local use, but by 1886 the Illinois Pressed Brick Company (organized in 1884) was employing about 80 men and using "steam power and the most approved machinery", which allowed them to produce 50,000 bricks per day.<ref>{{cite book |title= History of Chicago – From the Earliest Period to the Present Time – In Three Volumes |last= Andreas |first= A.T. |year= 1986| publisher= A.T. Andreas Publishing Co., Publisher |page= 76 }}</ref> By 1900, the Clifton Brickyard alone—which had opened in 1883 under the name of Purington at the far northeast corner of the village<ref name="The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935"/>{{rp|49}}—was producing 150,000,000 bricks a year.<ref>{{cite magazine | title=The Clifton Brickyard, Blue Island| magazine=Clay and Brick Record| volume=14| issue =  3 |date=March 1901| pages=136}}</ref> In 1886, the Chicago architectural firm of [[Dankmar Adler|Adler]] and [[Louis Sullivan|Sullivan]] designed a large complex for the Wahl Brothers brickyard (the main building of which was {{convert|250|by|350|ft}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Louis Sullivan – Prophet of Architecture|url=https://archive.org/details/louissullivanpro0000morr|url-access=registration| last= Morrison |first= Hugh |year= 1935 |publisher= W.W. Norton & Co.| location= New York |page= [https://archive.org/details/louissullivanpro0000morr/page/268 268]}}</ref>) on the west side of the Grand Trunk tracks south of 123rd street. These buildings had been demolished by 1935, and all of Blue Island's brickyards were re-purposed by the latter part of the mid-20th century. The larger ones for a while become [[landfill]]s, and the Wahl Brothers location is now the site of the Meadows Golf Club.

===The Portland question===
[[File:PortlandILLINOIS.JPG|425px|thumb|right|This sketch was derived from the plat of Portland which was registered by Peter Barton with the state of Illinois on April 13, 1839.
{{hidden begin|title=More information}} 
Barton hoped to develop Portland as an important river town. "It was thought that the lake commerce by the Calumet and the inland commerce by the feeder, which was planned to be enlarged into a water-way equal to the canal, would make this location of wonderful commercial value. These expectations were never to be realized, however, as the construction of the railroads spoiled these early calculations. The Rock Island swung its line away from the river and built its depot close to the hill, and Portland was forgotten."<ref>{{cite book |title= Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois – Cook County Edition – Illustrated – Volume II| last= Bateman |first= Newton|author2=Selby, Paul |year= 1905| publisher= Munsell Publishing Company| location= Chicago| page= 778 }}</ref>{{pb}}<!--

-->Most of the streets shown east of Division Street and all of those shown on the eastern bank of the [[Calumet River]] do not exist to this day, and several of those that were constructed elsewhere deviate significantly from the way they are charted here. The section of Portland north of the township boundary line (the phantom line in the middle of the map) and west of Division Street was included within the boundaries of the village when Blue Island incorporated as a village in 1872.
{{hidden end}}
]]

Some sources state<ref>{{Cite news | last = Stevens | first = R.R. | title = Circuit Court – New Suits | newspaper = Chicago Daily Law Bulletin | page = 2 | date= June 25, 1877  }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.greatchicagorealestate.com/Comm_Blue_Island.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030808160918/http://www.greatchicagorealestate.com/Comm_Blue_Island.htm| url-status=dead| archive-date=2003-08-08| title=Blue Island Illinois Real Estate| publisher=greatchicagorealestate.com| access-date=2010-07-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.illinois.com/city/Blue-Island| title=Blue Island| publisher=illinois.com| access-date=2010-07-19| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101230151409/http://www.illinois.com/city/Blue-Island| archive-date=2010-12-30}}</ref> that the city of Blue Island was once officially (or commonly) known as Portland. This claim is erroneous.

*Norman Rexford became the community's first permanent resident when he established the "Blue Island House" at the southern edge of the ridge in November 1836, where in 1838<ref>{{cite book |title=Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois : with portraits – Eighth Edition, Revised and Extended |year= 1897 |publisher= Calumet Book and Engraving Co.| location= Chicago|pages=481–483| url=https://archive.org/stream/albumofgenealogy1897calu#page/480/mode/2up |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> he became the settlement's first postmaster.<ref name="The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935"/>{{rp|23}} In his reminiscences published in the Blue Island ''Standard'' in 1876, Heber Rexford (who first came to the area in 1834 and was Cook County treasurer at the time of the [[Great Chicago Fire]] in 1871)<ref>{{cite book |title= History of Chicago – From the Earliest Period to the Present Time – Complete in One Volume |last= Andreas |first= A.T.|year= 1984|publisher= A.T. Andreas Publishing Co., Publishers|pages=637–638}}</ref> related the following:
<blockquote>
"The north end of the bench of land on which Blue Island stands was originally covered with a dense forest, and from Chicago, before the view was obstructed by buildings, this timber presented a blue appearance like smoke. Water was like-mirrored forth by the mirage which almost always prevailed, giving the timber the appearance of land surrounded by water, and it was from this circumstance that the hunters called it Blue Island, which name was perpetuated by my brother getting a Post Office located there, which was also called Blue Island – so much for the name."<ref name="Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War">{{cite book |url=https://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/270784489 |title=Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War |last= Schapper |first= Ferdinand |year= 1917 |publisher= Manuscript |location= Chicago History Museum |access-date=April 25, 2017}}</ref>{{rp|232}}</blockquote>
*On April 13, 1839, Peter Barton and his partners (who included [[Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard|Gurdon Hubbard]] and [[John H. Kinzie]])<ref>[http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/Image.asp?PatentDocClassCode=STA&Accession=IL0900%5F%5F%2E490&Format=PDF&Page=1&Index=30&QryID=72237%2E98 Bureau of Land Management – General Land Office Records]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. Accessed 1/20/2010</ref> registered the plat of "Portland" with the state of Illinois. Portland had been laid out on land purchased from the federal government adjacent to the settlement of Blue Island which was situated south of Vermont Street (more or less) and east of Wabash Road (what is now Western Avenue uptown, again, more or less). The [[Little Calumet River]] ran through the center of the platted area, and its promoters felt with this advantage that it would become a prosperous river town. They used their influence to have the local post office name changed from Blue Island to Portland (a circumstance that as time went by would be a source of aggravation to the people of Blue Island), and on May 1, 1839, this was accomplished. The post office, however, wasn't located within the platted area of Portland since there were no buildings in which to operate it, but in fact was on contiguous property to the west at the Blue Island House. Portland was never incorporated – it existed for many years by and large only as a [[Lot and Block survey system|plat of survey]]. No buildings of any consequence were erected there for nearly half a century. While some of the street names from Portland remain (although sometimes not entirely on their original courses), any of them that ''were'' laid out (and in fact a majority of them never were) waited in most cases for many years until they were needed. About half of the area was eventually annexed within what would become the corporate boundaries of Blue Island as time went by, and significant other sections of it became parts of the villages of [[Calumet Park, Illinois|Calumet Park]] and [[Riverdale, Illinois|Riverdale]], the Joe Louis the Champ golf course, and unincorporated [[Calumet Township, Cook County, Illinois|Calumet Township]]. According to John Volp, whose family had lived in Blue Island since 1862:
<blockquote>
"'Portland' did not become a river town. Neither did the name 'Portland' ever come into general use. In spite of all the efforts of its promoters to popularize the locality the people preferred to live on top of the hill and call the place 'Blue Island'..."<ref name="The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935"/>{{rp|32}}</blockquote>
*For reasons that remain unclear (but most likely because all of the development that was taking place in the area was occurring in the as yet unincorporated settlement of Blue Island to the north and west), the state legislature changed the name of the platted "town" of Portland to correspond with that of its neighbor. From the ''Laws of Illinois – 1842 and 1843'':
<blockquote>
"An Act entitled AN ACT TO CHANGE THE NAME OF PORTLAND IN COOK COUNTY TO THE NAME OF BLUE ISLAND: Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly that the name of the place called Portland in Cook County, Illinois is hereby altered and changed to Blue Island and the same shall hereafter always be known and called by such name of Blue Island. Approved February 24, 1843."<ref name="Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War"/>{{rp|137–138}}</blockquote> At the same time, the post office department in Washington, D.C. changed the name of the post office to "Blue Island". In the 1903 edition of ''Blue Book for the State of Illinois'', the state shows 1843 as the year Blue Island was granted "incorporation under special acts",<ref>{{cite book |title= Blue Book of the State of Illinois| last=Rose| first=James A., Secretary of State  |year= 1903| publisher= Phillips Bros., State Printers| location= Springfield|pages=381–383 }}</ref> recognizing the existence of Portland, but not as an incorporated entity. (Blue Island would not officially incorporate for almost another three decades – see below.)
*On April 20, 1850, the post office name was changed to "[[Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois|Worth]]",<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/10787.html ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'', Map of Cook and DuPage, and parts of Kane, Kendall, and Will Counties, 1851]. Retrieved December 17, 2009</ref> this time to coincide with the name of the township in which it was located.
*The [[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad|Rock Island Railroad]] inaugurated service to the community in 1852. From the Chicago ''Journal'', May 27, 1852:
<blockquote>
"The work of laying ties upon this Road (sic) between Chicago and Blue Island will be commenced next week. Mr. H. Fuller... will complete the work in the course of ten or fifteen days. Two hundred and thirty-six men are now employed on it."<ref name="Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War"/>{{rp|117}}</blockquote> 
:The "Rocket", as the train was called, pulled into the Vermont Street station (the only one in town then) for the first time on October 10, 1852. The Rock Island called the station "Blue Island".
*On January 10, 1860, the post office name reverted again to "Blue Island".
*On October 26, 1872, Blue Island incorporated as a village using the name by which it has always been known. Although about twenty percent of Portland was included within the corporate boundaries of the new village, that Portland was not an incorporated entity can be determined from the following excerpt that was taken from the petition that was submitted to the state to permit the election to consider incorporation: "...&nbsp;Your petitioners further represent that the territory herein described and bounded is not more than two (2) square miles, and that no part of the same is now included within the limits of any incorporated town, Village or City&nbsp;..."<ref name="The First Hundred Years – 1835–1935"/>{{rp|123}}

===Historic buildings and structures===
[[File:Sanders School.png|thumb|right|Sanders School, 1900. George W. Maher, architect]][[File:Goldberg Heimbach.jpg|thumb|right|Dr. Aaron Heimbach House]]
[[Bertrand Goldberg]] designed the [[Dr. Aaron Heimbach House]] (1939). The house is one of only six surviving residential designs by the architect, and is a designated landmark in the City of Blue Island.<ref>[http://www.blueisland.org/historic/landmark-tour/29-heimbach/ Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission Landmark Tour – Dr. Aaron Heimbach House]. Retrieved 10/30/2009</ref> In 2009, its owners received the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.landmarks.org/awards_2009_heimbach.htm|title=Landmarks Illinois: Preservation Awards|publisher=landmarks.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113183135/http://www.landmarks.org/awards_2009_heimbach.htm|archive-date=2010-01-13}}</ref> from Landmarks Illinois<ref>[http://www.landmarks.org/index.htm Landmarks Illinois] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125054159/http://www.landmarks.org/index.htm |date=2010-01-25 }}. Retrieved 10/30/2009</ref> for the outstanding quality of the restoration work performed on the house during the previous four years.

Because of its long history, the [[built environment]] of Blue Island exhibits a broad range of [[architectural style]]s and periods. Although largely built in the [[vernacular architecture|vernacular]] tradition, the works of notable architects, including [[Adler & Sullivan|Adler and Sullivan]], [[George W. Maher|George Maher]], [[August Fiedler]], [[Office of the Supervising Architect|Oscar Wenderoth]], [[Robert Seyfarth]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robertseyfartharchitect.com |title=Robert e Seyfarth Architect |access-date=2009-08-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715192216/http://www.robertseyfartharchitect.com/ |archive-date=2011-07-15 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnetkahistory.org/index.php?id=109|title=Winnetka Historical Society|publisher=winnetkahistory.org}}</ref> [[Perkins and Will]],<ref>{{cite news | title=Blue Island to Dedicate School, Wing – Hold Open House Today in Blue Island School| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=November 11, 1956| pages=SW5}}</ref> and [[Bertrand Goldberg]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bertrandgoldberg.org/works/heimbach_house.html|publisher=bertrandgoldberg.org|title=Heimbach House period image|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602123210/http://www.bertrandgoldberg.org/works/heimbach_house.html|archive-date=2008-06-02}}</ref> are featured throughout the community.

The Bell/Hendriks house was designed and construction in 1947 for the Prize Homes competition which was sponsored and promoted by the ''Chicago Tribune'',<ref>{{cite news |last=McCutcheon| first=John Jr.| title=Dentist Turns First Spade at his Prize Home – 19 Other War Veterans Are in Tribune Plan| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune |date=June 16, 1946| pages=SW2}}</ref> and several thousand persons toured the "modified Colonial" home when it was built, with many of the visitors' comments reported in the newspaper during the month the house was open to the public for tours.<ref>{{cite news |last=Peck| first=Janet| title=Women Agree – Tribune Prize Home a 'Honey' – Admire Blend of Beauty and Practicality| newspaper=Chicago Daily Tribune|date=October 5, 1946| pages=S6}}</ref> Opening ceremonies were broadcast over [[WGN (AM)|WGN]] radio, and plans of the house and of the other twenty-three prize-winning designs from the competition were the subject of an exhibition at the [[Art Institute of Chicago]] the previous year.<ref>{{cite web | agency = The Chicago Tribune | title = 1946 Exhibition History | date = January 1946 | publisher = The Art Institute of Chicago | url = http://www.artic.edu/research/1946-exhibition-history | access-date = 2013-02-16}}</ref>

The oldest section of Blue Island's city hall, built in 1891, was designed by [[Edmund R. Krause]], who was the architect of the Majestic Building (along with its recently restored [[Bank of America Theatre]]) in Chicago's [[Chicago Loop|Loop]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.patsabin.com/illinois/majestic.html |title=Majestic Theatre, Chicago, IL vintage postcard |access-date=2008-06-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703101818/http://www.patsabin.com/illinois/majestic.html |archive-date=2008-07-03 }}</ref> The first buildings of Northwest Gas, Light and Coke Company in Blue Island were designed by [[Holabird & Roche]]<ref>{{cite web | author = North Suburban Library System | title = Public Service Co., Blue Island, IL | publisher = V.O. Hammon Publishing Co. | date = c. 1909 | url = http://www.digitalpast.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/lakecoun004&CISOPTR=2337&REC=1 | access-date = 2009-02-16}}</ref> in 1902 (demolished). The city also has 22 houses known to have been built with mail-order kits sold by [[Sears Catalog Home|Sears Modern Homes]]. There is one building in Blue Island listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]],<ref>[http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/Reports/Reports.aspx?RefNumVariable=200317&FormType=Short National Register of Historic Places – Property Information Report – The Joshua P. Young House.]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Retrieved 4/22/2010</ref> 27 are included as part of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency's Historic Architectural and Archaeology Resources Geographic Information System,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.il.us/hpa/PS/haargishi.htm |title=Welcome to IHPA's Preservation Services Division |access-date=2008-07-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090513190325/http://www.state.il.us/hpa/PS/haargishi.htm |archive-date=2009-05-13 }}</ref><ref>[http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/Main.aspx?action=zoomcity&city=Blue%20Island Illinois Historic Preservation Agency – Historic Architectural/Archeological Resources – HAARGIS.]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Retrieved 4/22/2010</ref> and 41<ref>[https://archive.today/20110718052610/http://www.blueisland.org/historic/landmark-tour/ Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission – Blue Island Landmark Tour.] Retrieved 4/22/2010</ref> individual buildings and one district have been designated as local landmarks by the Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission. The city's newest development is Fay's Point, a gated community built at the confluence of the Calumet River and the Calumet Sag Channel on the site of the home of Jerome Fay, who had settled there in 1850.<ref>{{cite book |title= The first hundred years, 1835-1935: historical review of Blue Island, Illinois |last= Volp |first= John Henry|year= 1938| publisher= Blue Island Publishing |page= 75 }}</ref>

The [[Libby, McNeill and Libby Building]], which operated as [[Libby, McNeill and Libby]]'s main Midwest processing plant from 1918 to 1968, is a prominent historic remnant of Blue Island's industrial heritage, located three blocks south of downtown Blue Island on Western Avenue.<ref name="NomForm">{{cite web|title=Request for Preliminary Determination of Eligibility: Libby, McNeill & Libby Canning Plant 13636 South Western Avenue, Blue Island, Illinois|url=https://las.depaul.edu/centers-and-institutes/chaddick-institute-for-metropolitan-development/research-and-publications/Documents/Libby%20McNeill%20%20Libby%20Canning%20Plant%20-%20PDIL%20Package%205-7-12.pdf|publisher=[[DePaul University]]: College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences|website=las.depaul.edu|accessdate=July 18, 2021}}</ref>

====The American House====
[[File:American House Hotel Blue Island.JPG|thumb|right|Drawing of the American House Hotel, modeled after a sketch that appeared in Ferdinand Schapper's 1917 manuscript ''Southern Cook County and History of Blue Island before the Civil War''.]]

One of the oldest buildings in Blue Island, the American House was built in 1839 as the courthouse for [[Lake County, Indiana]]—a function it never actually had the chance to serve, as the county seat was moved from Liverpool to [[Crown Point, Indiana|Crown Point]] in 1840.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Calumet Region – Indiana's Last Frontier. Indiana Historical Collections, Volume XXXIX |last= Moore| first=Powell A. |year= 1959 |publisher= Indiana Historical Bureau| location= Indianapolis|page=72 }}</ref> In 1844, the building was disassembled, sent by raft up the [[Little Calumet River]], and reassembled in Blue Island.

Once in Blue Island, the building originally stood on the west side of Western Avenue north of Vermont Street,<ref name="American House Hotel">{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=13 - American House Hotel {{!}} Blue Island, IL |url=https://www.blueisland.org/259/13---American-House-Hotel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406212308/https://www.blueisland.org/259/13---American-House-Hotel |archive-date=2025-04-06 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.blueisland.org |publisher=Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission}}</ref> (where Three Sisters Antique Mall stands today). It was popular among Southerners who used it as a summer boarding house and with the contractors who built the feeder canal for the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]]. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] it was used as a home for retired soldiers. Although it was built after the invention of [[balloon framing]], the building is constructed using the [[timber framing]] method, evidence of which is still clearly visible in the basement and attic. However, while its [[Greek Revival]] roots are discernible, the building is much remodeled and serves today as a private residence.

Greek Revival was the architectural style of choice in the early years of Blue Island's history. Many of the buildings that remain from those days have been similarly remodeled, but some of the most well-preserved examples of the style, albeit in a vernacular form, can be seen either in the Walter P. Roche House on York Street<ref>{{Cite web |title=28 - Walter P. Roche House {{!}} Blue Island, IL |url=https://www.blueisland.org/274/28---Walter-P-Roche-House |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250406212342/https://www.blueisland.org/274/28---Walter-P-Roche-House |archive-date=2025-04-06 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=www.blueisland.org}}</ref> or the Henry Schuemann House on Western Avenue.<ref>[http://www.blueisland.org/historic/landmark-tour/36-schuermann/ Blue Island Historic Preservation Commission Landmark Tour – Henry Schuemann House.] Retrieved 10/30/2009</ref>

When the American House was dismantled in the 1890s, Jacob Link cut and relocated half of it to its current location on Collins Street, where he converted it into a residence.<ref name="American House Hotel" />

====The Joshua P. Young House====
[[File:Joshua P Young House.JPG|thumb|The Joshua P. Young House, built circa 1852]]
An ad appeared in the book ''Chicago and Its Suburbs'', which was published in 1874 in part to promote the interests of real estate developers in the Chicago area. Note the mention of the firm's holdings in [[Englewood, Chicago|Englewood]], South Lawn (later [[Harvey, Illinois|Harvey]]), [[Homewood, Illinois|Homewood]] and Washington Heights (later [[Morgan Park, Chicago|Morgan Park]]), the latter of which was purchased in 1869 for $150 per acre from the {{convert|1500|acre|adj=on}} tract that was then being developed by the Blue Island Land and Building Co.

The house was built by Carlton Wadhams (1810–1891), who came to Blue Island in 1839 from [[Goshen, Connecticut]], and farmed on land north of the village until he opened the American House Hotel (building extant) in 1844. During his time in Blue Island, Wadhams made his first fortune as the owner of the hotel and as a cattle dealer, staying until c. 1857 when he sold his holdings and moved to [[South Bend, Indiana]]. In South Bend he was one of the founders of the Dodge Manufacturing Company and of the First National Bank, where he was a director until his death.<ref>{{cite book |title=South Bend and the Men Who Have Made It. |last= Anderson and Cooley|year= 1901 |publisher= Press of the Tribune Printing Company |location= South Bend|page= 95}}</ref> Wadhams sold the house along with all of the property on which it was located, which included the American House and all of the land between what is today Western Avenue, Maple Avenue, Burr Oak Avenue and Vermont Street to Joshua Palmer Young (1818–1889),<ref>{{cite book |title=Dedication to Benjamin Harrison, Christian gentleman; patriotic citizen; brave soldier; wise statesman and 23d President of the United States |last= Old Tippecanoe Club of Chicago |year= 1899 |publisher= Press of the Peerless Printing Co.| location= Chicago|pages=218–219 |url=https://archive.org/stream/dedicationtobenj00oldt#page/218/mode/2up |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> who, by himself beginning in 1848 and in a partnership with John K. Rowley that was established in 1866, played an important role in the development of the Chicago communities of [[Beverly, Chicago|Beverly Hills]], [[Morgan Park, Chicago|Morgan Park]],<ref>{{cite book |author=Everett Chamberlin |title=Chicago and its Suburbs| publisher=T.A. Hungerford & Co.| location=Chicago|orig-year=1874 – reprinted 2010 by [[BiblioBazaar|Nabu Press]] |pages= 369, 407, 470 |isbn= 978-1-142-31955-7|date=January 2010}}</ref> [[Near West Side, Chicago|Near West Side]], [[Washington Heights, Chicago|Washington Heights]] and [[Englewood, Chicago|Englewood]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Album of genealogy and biography, Cook County, Illinois: with portraits – Eighth Edition, Revised and Extended |year= 1897 |publisher= Calumet Book and Engraving Co.| location= Chicago|pages=500–501 |url=https://archive.org/stream/albumofgenealogy1897calu#page/500/mode/2up |access-date=December 11, 2010}}</ref> as well as the suburban communities of Blue Island, South Lawn (now [[Harvey, Illinois|Harvey]]),<ref>{{cite book |title=HISTORY – the City of Harvey 1890–1962 |last= Kerr| first= Alec C.|year= 1962 |publisher= First National Bank in Harvey|location= Harvey| asin=B001J34JEK |page= 15}}</ref> [[Homewood, Illinois|Homewood]] and [[South Holland, Illinois|South Holland]].

Young operated the hotel for a time and was otherwise active in local affairs. He served from 1878–1880 as the president of the village board, and was a founder of the Congregational church (now Christ Memorial United Church of Christ). He was one of the incorporators, a director and secretary of the Chicago, Blue Island and Indiana Railroad Company (now part of the [[Grand Trunk Railway]]), whose charter was approved by the state of Illinois on March 7, 1867.<ref>{{cite book |title=Private Laws of the State of Illinois passed by the Twenty-fifth General Assembly – Convened January 7, 1867 – Volume II|year= 1867 |publisher= Baker, Bailhache & Co., Printers|location= Springfield|pages=545–548}}</ref>

The house is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Cook County, Illinois|National Register of Historic Places]] and is included in the State of Illinois' Historic Architectural and Archaeology Resources Geographic Information System.

====USS ''Blue Island Victory''====
On December 28, 1944, 91 days after her keel was laid, the USS ''Blue Island Victory'' was launched from the [[Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard]] in [[Baltimore]], Maryland. Dubbed "the Ugly Duckling of the [[United States Merchant Marine|merchant marine]]" by President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], [[Victory ship]]s were armed cargo ships that were built during [[World War II]] to transport troops and supplies wherever in the world their services were required. Of the 550 or so built,<ref>[http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/wwii/victoryships.htm Shipbuilding History.com – Victory Ships] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820074721/http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/merchantships/wwii/victoryships.htm |date=August 20, 2008 }}, accessed January 28, 2009</ref> 218 were named after American cities.

The USS ''Blue Island Victory'' was a type VC 2-S-AP2, which was {{convert|455|ft|m}} long, {{convert|62|ft|m}} wide, and had a {{convert|25|ft|m|adj=on}} [[Draft (hull)|draft]]. It was equipped with a {{convert|5|in|mm|adj=on}} gun on the stern for enemy submarines, a {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} [[anti-aircraft gun]], and a 20&nbsp;mm cannon. The ''Blue Island Victory'' served variously as a troop ship<ref>[http://www.jefferson.k12.wi.us/jms/LibraryHomePage/WartimeRemembrances/Buelowdon/buelowdon.htm "Wartime Remembrances" – Don Buelow interview] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061003080622/http://www.jefferson.k12.wi.us/jms/LibraryHomePage/WartimeRemembrances/Buelowdon/buelowdon.htm |date=October 3, 2006 }}, School District of Jefferson, Wisconsin. Accessed 8/15/2008</ref> and as a cattle transport ship,<ref>[http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=1910411&forward=viewportfolio Blue Island Victory] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615212652/http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/view?id=1910411&forward=viewportfolio |date=June 15, 2009 }} – Photosig.com. Accessed 9/15/2008</ref> and saw service in the [[Korean War]]. It was scrapped in 1972.

====City hall====
The oldest portion of Blue Island's city hall was built in 1891 and designed by Edmund R. Krause, a prominent Chicago architect who among other buildings designed the 20-story Majestic Theatre building in [[Chicago Loop|Chicago's Loop]] at what is now 22 W. Monroe Street (the theater, whose interiors were designed by [[Rapp and Rapp]], has been [[Naming rights|renamed]] several time in the last fifty years – most recently in 2015 when it became the [[PrivateBank Theatre]]). An annex to city hall was built in 1925 according to plans by the Chicago architectural firm of Doerr, Lindquist and Doerr.<ref>{{cite web |last=Curt Teich & Co. |author2=North Suburban Library System |title=Postcard depicting Blue Island's City Hall, Police Dept. & Fire Dept. |publisher=Aero Distributing Co., Chicago, IL |year=1951 |url=http://www.digitalpast.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/lakecoun004&CISOPTR=5032&REC=3 |access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref> The design for the annex was apparently a conscious effort to complement the post office building across the street and built using similar brick and a closely related architectural style, although not on as grand a scale. The Blue Island Post Office was designed by [[Oscar Wenderoth]] and built in 1914. Wenderoth was associated with the building of many government buildings of the period, including the Senate and House Office Buildings in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wenderoth Selected to Succeed James Taylor as Architect of the Treasury Department |newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer |date=June 7, 1912 |pages=3}}</ref>

Beginning in the 1870s, the water supply for Blue Island was supplied by three [[Artesian aquifer|artesian wells]], whose water was pumped by a windmill to a {{convert|10|ST}} storage tank that sat on top of a {{convert|50|ft|adj=on}} high stone tower behind the City Hall building.<ref name="Spears 9">{{cite news |last=Spears |first=Charles|title= La Julia Rhea Gets Singular Recognition|newspaper=Pittsburgh Courier|date=October 30, 1937|page=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Miniature Water-Works |newspaper=The American Architect and Building News |volume=III |issue=112 |date=16 February 1878 |pages=60}}</ref> The city began to receive its water from [[Lake Michigan]] in August 1915 after the water from the wells began to acquire a gaseous odor whose source was apparently the Public Service Company whose facilities were located about a quarter mile to the southwest,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Chemical Character of Chicago Waters – Niagara Formation – Local Supplies – Vicinity of Chicago – Blue Island |journal=The Illinois State Geological Survey: The Artesian Waters of Northeastern Illinois |volume=34 |year=1919 |pages=102–3}}</ref> and the tank was subsequently removed.

=== Religion ===
[[File:First Lutheran Church.JPG|thumb|right|The First Evangelical Lutheran Church was founded in 1861 and its sanctuary, built in 1863, remains the oldest in the city (at least in part) <ref>{{cite book |title= Dedication - First Evangelical Lutheran Church, Blue Island, Illinois| last= Lohse |first= Martin, Chairman of the Dedication Book committee |year = 1954|location= Blue Island, Illinois |pages= 15, 22–23}}</ref> by virtue of the fact that the tower and the walls of the west half of the original building were incorporated into a 1954 expansion. The school building shown to the right of the church was built in 1871 and was replaced by the present building in 1912.<ref>{{cite news | title=Building Department| newspaper=The Economist: A Weekly Financial, Commercial, and Real-estate Newspaper| volume=47| issue =12 |date=March 23, 1912| pages=564}}</ref> The former schoolhouse has been relocated and currently serves as a two-family residence.<ref>{{cite news | title=Landmark Sketches| newspaper=The Blue Island Forum| volume=IX| issue =9 |date=May 9, 1995| pages=17}}</ref>]]
Although religious gatherings have taken place in Blue Island almost since the community was founded in 1836, the first denominational services took place in 1850 with the founding of the Central Methodist Church (predecessor to today's Grace United Methodist Church).<ref>{{cite book |title= The first hundred years, 1835-1935: historical review of Blue Island, Illinois |last= Volp |first= John Henry|year= 1938| publisher= Blue Island Publishing |page= 197}}</ref>

=== {{Anchor|Origin of the name}} Etymology ===
[[File:Lake Chicago.JPG|thumb|right|[[Lake Chicago]] at the Glenwood Stage showing the geological formation of Blue Island (middle lower right) protruding above the waters. The city of Blue Island occupies the lower quarter of the island and the surrounding plain in its vicinity.<ref>"Bulletin No. 1", [https://web.archive.org/web/20080724113453/http://www.geographicsociety.org/index2.html The Geographic Society of Chicago], 1899</ref>]]
The north-central section of the city of Blue Island is located at the south end of a glacial [[moraine]] that once was an island when the waters from [[Lake Chicago]] covered the surrounding area at the former lake's Glenwood Stage. Early pioneers gave the ridge the name because at a distance it looked like an island set in a trackless [[prairie]] sea. The blue color was attributed to atmospheric scattering or to blue flowers growing on the ridge.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/150.html ''The Encyclopedia of Chicago'' – "Blue Island"], retrieved 4/1/2010</ref> The Chicago [[Chicago Democrat|''Democrat'']], February, 1834 described it:
<blockquote>
"Nearly south of this town and twelve miles [19 km] distant is Blue Island. This name is particularly appropriate. It is a table of land about six miles [10 km] long and an average of two miles [3.2 km] wide, of an oval form and rising some forty feet [12&nbsp;m] out of an immense plain which surrounds it on every side. The sides and slopes of this table, as well as the table itself, are covered with a handsome growth of timber, forming a belt surrounding about four or five thousand acres of beautiful table land. In summer, the plain is covered with luxurious herbage. It is uninhabited, and when we visited it, from its stillness, loneliness, and quiet, we pronounced it a vast vegetable solitude. The ridge, when viewed from a distance, appears standing in an azure mist of vapor, hence the appellation 'Blue Island'."
</blockquote>