Editing Hazel Crest, Illinois (section)

==History==
Hazel Crest was first settled in 1870 in a farming community known as South Harvey. An enterprising newspaper editor named William McClintock moved here from [[Ohio]] in 1890, buying {{convert|80|acre|m2}} from farmer Fred Puhrman, McClintock named the town South Harvey, and the town would receive its modern name in 1895, after a referendum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/572.html|title=Hazel Crest, IL|publisher=Encyclopedia of Chicago|accessdate=October 10, 2023}}</ref>

McClintock built a depot for a local [[milk train]] and subsequently opened transportation opportunities to Chicago and beyond. The depot also served as the area's first real estate office, public meeting place, Sunday school, day school, and post office.

In 1900, the name was changed to Hazel Crest to reflect the large numbers of [[hazelnut]] bushes that grew on a rise of land just south of town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://villageofhazelcrest.org/about-hazel-crest/#:~:text=In%201900%2C%20the%20name%20was,Village%20was%20incorporated%20in%201912.&text=Hazel%20Crest%20has%20been%20honored,Awards%20in%202002%20and%202008.|title=About Hazel Crest|publisher=Village of Hazel Crest|accessdate=October 10, 2023}}</ref> At the time, the southern border was 175th Street and the western edge of the village was Kedzie Avenue.

Hazel Crest was incorporated in 1912. Many of the families of the early residents still live in the village.

Later on, the city would see the construction of a Community Church in 1894, then a 1984 adaptation of an elementary school building which has now become the Martin J. Kauchak Municipal Center, named for President Kauchak who served the village for twenty years (1973–1993).