Editing Wilmette, Illinois (section)

== History ==

===19th century===

====Early history====
Wilmette was a forested area with high bluffs along its lakeshore.<ref name=images>{{cite book |last1=Hussey-Arnston |first1=Kathy|last2=Leary |first2=Patrick |year=2012 |title=Wilmette |location=[[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]], [[South Carolina]] |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]]  |isbn=978-0-7385-9375-3 }}</ref><ref name=bushnell>{{cite book |last=Bushnell |first=George D. |date=1997 |title=Wilmette: A History |location=Wilmette, Illinois |publisher=Village of Wilmette }}</ref> Before European settlement, members of the [[Potawatomi]] tribe lived in the area that would later become Wilmette.<ref name="HoW">{{cite web| title = Historical Development of Wilmette| publisher = Village of Wilmette| date =n.d.| url =http://www.wilmette.com/whpc/historyofwilmette.htm| access-date = January 15, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070726221118/http://www.wilmette.com/whpc/historyofwilmette.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = July 26, 2007}}</ref> Native Americans were forced out of the area by treaties in the 1820s and 1830s.<ref name=images/>

====The Ouilmette reservation====
The village is named in honor of Archange and [[Antoine Ouilmette]].<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/>

Archange Chevallier Ouilmette was born in approximately 1781 at Sugar Creek, [[Michigan]]. She was the daughter of Pierese Chevallier, a French [[fur trade]]r, and his Potawatomi wife, Chopa. She was among the earliest recorded residents of Chicago, having settled there prior to its official incorporation. In either 1796 or 1797 she married Antoine Ouilmette, a [[French-Canadian]] fur trader. Together they would ultimately have eight children (sons Louis, Joseph, Michael and Francis; daughters Elizabeth, Archange, Josett and Sophia), the last being born in 1808.

On July 29, 1829, as a condition of the [[Second Treaty of Prairie du Chien]], the U.S. government awarded {{convert|1,280|acre|km2}} of land in present-day Wilmette and [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]] to Archange Chevallier Ouilmette.<ref name=wbc>{{cite book |date=2001 |editor1-last=Schultz |editor1-first=Rime Lunin |editor2-last=Hast |editor2-first=Adele |title=Women Building Chicago 1790-1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iz8qAAAAYAAJ |location=[[Bloomington, Indiana|Bloomington]] and [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]] |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |pages=653–54 |isbn=978-0-253-33852-5 |access-date=November 20, 2020 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040327/https://books.google.com/books?id=iz8qAAAAYAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=grover>{{cite book|last=Grover|first=Frank R.|title=Antoine Ouilmette|year=1908|publisher=Evanston Historical Society|url=https://archive.org/details/antoineouilmette00grov|access-date=September 7, 2010}}</ref><ref name="shea">{{cite book |last1=Shea |first1=Robert | title=From No Man's Land, To Plaza del Lago |year=1987 |publisher=American References Publishing Corporation |location=919 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL. 60611}}</ref> The Ouilmettes moved into a cabin that they built on this reserved land.<ref name=images/><ref name=grover/><ref name="shea"/>

In the late 1830s Antoine Ouilmette was involved in litigation against Joseph Fountain of Evanston and others, whom he accused of trespassing and illegally harvesting timber from the Ouilmette family's reservation. Ouilmette lost the suit and paid a large bill in court costs. It was after this that the Ouilmette family decided to leave.<ref name=wbc/><ref name=grover/><ref name="shea"/> In 1838, the Ouilmette family moved to [[Council Bluffs, Iowa|Council Bluffs]], [[Iowa]], where many Potawatomi had previously relocated.<ref name=images/><ref name=wbc/><ref name="shea"/>  Archange Chevallier Ouilmette died there on November 25, 1840, and Antoine Ouilmette died there on December 1, 1841.<ref name="shea"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Ouilmette, Antoine Louis|url=http://www.earlychicago.com/encyclopedia.php?letter=O|work=Early Chicago|publisher=Early Chicago, Inc|access-date=July 17, 2010|archive-date=December 11, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101211152345/http://www.earlychicago.com/encyclopedia.php?letter=O|url-status=live}}</ref>

After Archange's and Antoine's deaths, seven of their children petitioned the federal government for permission to sell the land, as the treaty had stipulated that no part of land could be sold without permission from the President of the United States.<ref name=wbc/> All of the children, except for one, were living in Council Bluffs with no intention of moving back.<ref name=wbc/> They reasoned that they were living too far away to protect the land from illegal timber poaching.<ref name="shea"/> President [[James K. Polk]] approved the sale of the land, and in 1845 the entire reservation was collectively sold by the Ouilmette children, save for one sliver that Joseph Ouilmette sold individually at a later date.<ref name=wbc/><ref name="shea"/>

====Early settlement after the Ouilmettes====
[[File:Advertisement for Wilmette subdivision.jpg|thumb|left|Advertisement for an early subdivision in Wilmette]]

A number of early settlers worked small farms in the area, many of them near the lakeshore.  Mary Dennis, Max Dusham, Charles Beaubien, Simon Doyle, Wendal Alles, Joel Stebbins, and Arunah Hill were among the most prominent members of this thinly settled community, and some of their descendants remained in the area for generations. In the 1850s and 1860s, more prosperous entrepreneurs from New York State and the Eastern seaboard bought out many of these settlers. Among them were Alexander McDaniel (who had arrived in the 1830s, then returned from the California gold rush with money to invest), John G. Westerfield, Henry Dingee, and John Gage.<ref name=images/> During this period, Illinois more generally was experiencing a high degree of land speculation and settlement.<ref name="shea"/>

The [[Chicago and Milwaukee Railroad]] tracks were built in 1855,<ref name=images/> facilitating the settlement of what would become the North Shore. Several large owners of land within the former reservation saw the opportunity to develop a community, and offered to build a station at their own expense if the railway would agree to stop in Wilmette<ref name="shea"/> The offer was accepted, and in 1869, the Chicago and Milwaukee Railway (later the Chicago and North Western) began service to the station.  The first station burned, but the second one had been finished by 1874 and is still in existence today.<ref name=images/><ref name="shea"/> This was a predecessor of today's [[Wilmette station]].<ref name=images/>

In 1871 Central School, the community's first public school, was established in a [[one-room school]]house.<ref name=images/>

The community was officially incorporated on September 19, 1872, as the Village of Wilmette, at Andrew Sherman's house on Greenleaf Avenue.  John Westerfield, whose large farm on the lakeshore occupied the area where the original Ouilmette cabin had been, was elected as the new village's first president.<ref name=images/>

[[File:Chicago and Northwestern Depot (8618676620).jpg|thumb|1874 station building, now used as a restaurant space<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaspari |first=Peter |date=2024-01-12 |title=Wilmette commission not fine with Small Cheval's sign |url=https://www.therecordnorthshore.org/2024/01/12/wilmette-commission-not-fine-with-small-chevals-sign/ |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=The Record |language=en-US}}</ref>]]

In 1875 Wilmette's Protestant denominations partnered to construct the Union Evangelical Church at the northeast corner of Wilmette and Lake Avenues, an arrangement that would ultimately fail, as the groups came to construct their own churches.  The largest denomination, the Methodists, were left with ownership of this first church building<ref name=images/>

In the 1880s the Royal Arcanum Hall, a barn-like building on the northeast corner of Wilmette and Central Avenues, served as a gathering place for local residents, while the train depot served as a polling space during elections.<ref name=images/>

=====Village of Gross Point=====
Much of the area that is today known simply as west Wilmette was once a very distinct community.<ref name=images/>

German-speaking Roman Catholic farmers from the Mosel Valley near Luxembourg in what is now Germany, many of them from in and around the city of [[Trier]] (for which the [[New Trier Township, Illinois|New Trier Township]] would later be named), had begun settling the area in the late 1830s. They developed a cohesive farming community and were active in the governance of New Trier Township (established in 1850), which built roads, schools and drainage ditches. Due to the rural area, it was a difficult place for the Chicago diocese to staff with priests. Eventually, Fr. William Netstraeter was appointed in 1872, and he would serve the faith community for five decades, as well as become a Wilmette trustee for two terms (i.e. mayor) and help found New Trier High School.<ref>"Outdoor mass marks blending of 2 parishes in Wilmette" Glenview Lantern (July 4, 2019) p. 11</ref> In 1874, the community was incorporated as the Village of Gross Point, using the traditional voyageur name for the area immediately north of Chicago.<ref name=images/><ref name="WHMuseum">{{cite web| title = About Our Historic Building| publisher = Wilmette Historical Museum| url = http://www.wilmettehistory.org/building.html| access-date = January 15, 2008| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080108054731/http://www.wilmettehistory.org/building.html| archive-date = January 8, 2008| url-status = dead}}</ref> Some prominent Gross Point family names include Hoffmann, Braun, Bauer, Schneider, Schaefer, Schaefgen, Reinwald, Bleser, Schwall, Engel, Steffens, Lauermann, Thalmann, Loutsch, Rengel, Nanzig, and Borre.  For the next half-century, Gross Point would remain a separate entity from Wilmette.<ref name=images/><ref name="WHMuseum"/> Gross Point remained a small community, with its population never exceeding 500.<ref name=images/>

Taverns were a major business in Gross Point. At least fifteen operated along Ridge Road, the village's eastern boundary, directly across the street from St. Joseph's. These were controversial: many in surrounding communities, especially Evanston (home to the [[Women's Christian Temperance Union]]) bitterly opposed the saloon trade, and made several attempts—ultimately successful—to shut it down.<ref name=images/> Upon the passing of the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution]], there was attempted attack of the St. Josephs rectory where Fr. Netstraeter lived, as he was an advocate for prohibition.

[[St. Joseph Catholic Church (Wilmette, Illinois)|St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church]] was established in 1845 at the corner of Lake Avenue and Ridge Road. In 1873, the church opened a school. Many of the children in Gross Point attended school at St. Joseph, where they were taught by nuns from Milwaukee's School Sisters of St. Francis until 1981; the Archdiocese of Chicago closed the school in 1986, but parish families reopened it a decade later. The German language was frequently used in the classrooms up until [[World War I]], when the school abandoned this practice due to anti-German feeling in the United States.<ref name=images/> Prior to then, because Masses were only celebrated in German, English-speaking Catholics petitioned the Archdiocese of Chicago to open a second parish in the area, which would become St. Francis Xavier Church in 1904. Upon the death of Fr. Netstraeter in 1924, it was discovered that he bequeathed a large monetary sum of his estate for the construction of a new church. The money was temporarily borrowed by Cardinal [[George Mundelein]], but returned in 1938 and was used to construct the current, St. Joseph's church, which opened in 1939. St. Francis Xavier Church would be merged with St. Joseph Parish in 2019 with much controversy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wilmette churches celebrate coming together as new parish|url=https://www.chicagocatholic.com/chicagoland/-/article/2019/07/10/wilmette-churches-celebrate-coming-together-as-new-pari-1|access-date=September 11, 2020|website=Chicago Catholic|language=en-US|archive-date=August 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811163121/https://www.chicagocatholic.com/chicagoland/-/article/2019/07/10/wilmette-churches-celebrate-coming-together-as-new-pari-1|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1897 Gross Point opened up a small public school west of Ridge Road on Wilmette Avenue. The Gross Point Public School was housed in a two-room, two-story brick building built on that had been donated by the Nanzig family. Its building would later become the home of the American Legion Post 46.<ref name=images/>

==== The 1890s ====
[[File:Early Wilmette village hall.jpg|thumb|left|Wilmette constructed its first village hall in 1890.]]

By the early 1890s the Chicago & Milwaukee Railroad had double-tracked its line in Wilmette.<ref name=images/> In 1890 Wilmette constructed its first village hall. In 1892 the village began purchasing treated water from Evanston<ref name=images/> and had begun to set up telephone service.<ref name="shea"/> In 1895 the village established the Wilmette Public Works Department to provide maintenance to the village's infrastructure.<ref name=images/> In 1897 the railway built a new and larger [[Frost & Granger]]-designed station house for its Chicago & Milwaukee station, on the east side of the tracks. The 1874 station building was [[Structure relocation|relocated]] and used for freight, and later for general storage.<ref name=images/>

[[File:North Shore Line in Wilmette.jpg|thumb|right|North Shore Line began service through Wilmette in 1899.]]

The [[Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee]] (North Shore Line) began service in Wilmette in 1899. Its route (from south to north) entered Wilmette along the Northwestern Elevated tracks.<ref name=images/> After leaving the Linden station, the trains [[street running|ran west on Greenleaf Avenue]], before running north alongside the tracks of the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad.<ref name=images/>  The segment which ran parallel to the Chicago & Milwaukee railroad is today occupied by the 9-mile [[Green Bay Trail]].

Wilmette was home to a variety of social and literary clubs. Among these was the Wilmette Woman's Club, which was founded in 1891 as a reading club but quickly expanded to embrace a wide variety of philanthropic activities. Another was the Sunday Evening Supper Club, which would host such prominent speakers as [[William Jennings Bryan]] and [[Jane Addams]].<ref name=images/>

[[File:Anti annexation circulator (Wilmette).jpg|thumb|right|100x100px|Circulator opposing annexation]]
[[File:Old Wilmette fire department station on Central Avenue.jpg|thumb|right|150x150px|Among the improvements to the village's services was the construction of a central fire station.]]

Referendums were held in 1894 and 1897 over whether Wilmette should seek to be annexed by neighboring [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]]. Proponents wanted to take advantage of Evanston's then superior fire, police, and water services, as well as Evanston Township High School. One annexation referendum lost by a vote of 168 to 165; three others also failed.<ref name="EncycChi">{{cite web| title = Encyclopedia of Chicago, Wilmette, IL| publisher = Chicago Historical Society| url = http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1360.html| access-date = January 15, 2008| archive-date = December 24, 2007| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071224130231/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1360.html| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=David W. | last=Scott | title=North suburban history: Temperance, tolerance, and the shaping of the northshore | date=March 1, 2005 | url=http://www.lib.niu.edu/2005/ih030705.html | work=Illinois Heritage | pages=7–8 | access-date=December 18, 2008 | archive-date=June 17, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617021002/http://www.lib.niu.edu/2005/ih030705.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Following the result of these votes, the village improved its own services.<ref name=images/> Among the efforts at improving the village's services was the construction of a central fire station in 1899.  Paving of the village streets with specially made bricks began in earnest at this time, as well.  New Trier High School, built in Winnetka but also drawing students from Wilmette, was opened in 1901.<ref name=bushnell/>

A series of new schools were built in the nineties to serve Wilmette's growing community. In 1892 an eight-classroom brick school building was built to house Central School, replacing the previous one-room structure.<ref name=images/> Logan school was opened in 1893 on Kline Street as a one-room school house. Its building would subsequently be expanded.<ref name=images/> Today, McKenzie Elementary School stands at the former site of Logan School.<ref name=images/>

===20th century===
====Early 20th century====
[[Sheridan Road]] opened on October 8, 1900. This opened up the North Shore to automobiles, providing a north–south arterial roadway along the lakeshore.<ref name="shea"/>

In 1900, by a margin of 62 to 52, village residents approved a referendum to establish a free public library, thus establishing the [[Wilmette Public Library]].<ref name=wilmettelibrarytimeline>{{cite web |title=Wilmette Public Library Timeline |url=https://www.wilmettelibrary.info/about/about-us/mission-and-strategic-plan/library-history |publisher=Wilmette Public Library |access-date=August 19, 2019}}</ref> In 1905, [[Carnegie library|with the assistance]] of funds from [[Andrew Carnegie]], the village was able to erect a new building for its library at the corner of Park and Wilmette Avenues.<ref name=images/><ref name=wilmettelibrarytimeline/>

[[File:North Shore Channel - Wilmette, IL.JPG|thumb|North Shore Channel in Wilmette in 2013]]

The North Shore Channel, which terminates in Wilmette, was a crucial part of the huge engineering and sanitary project to reverse the course of the Chicago River in order to carry Chicago's sewage away from Lake Michigan. In 1907, upon beginning construction of the [[North Shore Channel]], Sanitary District of Chicago president [[Robert R. McCormick]] noted that the construction of the canal would ultimately create approximately twenty-two acres of landfill from excavated materials next to the mouth of the canal.<ref name=parkdistrict>{{cite web |url=http://www.wilmettepark.org/about-us/history |title=Park District History |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.wilmettepark.org |publisher=Wilmette Park District |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615075837/http://www.wilmettepark.org/about-us/history |url-status=live }}</ref> Illinois law stipulated that an organized Park District had the authority to, without any cost, take possession of any man-made land for use as parkland. Citizens, thereafter, petitioned for a vote to be held on the prospect of establishing Park District.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

An election was held January 1908, with 174 votes in favor of creating a park district and 37 votes against it. The Wilmette Park District Board of Commissioners was appointed, serving the entirety of the village, as well as a segment of northeast Evanston (responsibility for which was later assumed by the Evanston Park District). The Wilmette Park District's Board of Commissioners held their first meeting on February 17, 1908.<ref name=parkdistrict/> State legislation was passed May 25, 1911, granting the Park District ownership of the landfill. Ultimately, the Park District gained ownership of a riparian property stretching between Lake Avenue and Forest Avenue. Today, this land forms much of Gillson Park.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The excavated material that formed the landfill turned out to largely consist of a relatively impervious blue clay. Mulchings and plantings began part of a years-long process of transforming the landfill into usable parkland.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The North Shore Channel project, completed in 1909, also resulted in the creation of Wilmette Harbor.

Wilmette's first informal beach was established at the foot of Elmwood Avenue in 1910. Wooden steps were constructed down the bluff to allow access to the beach from the street.<ref name=images/> In 1914 the Wilmette Beach Improvement Association was founded to clean up the village's unsupervised shoreline. The group established an official swimming beach at the foot of Lake Avenue, the site of today's Gillson Beach, with facilities including a bathhouse, swings, benches, and umbrellas.<ref name=images/>

In 1912 the [[Northwestern Elevated Railroad]] (today's [[Chicago Transit Authority]] [[Purple Line (CTA)|Purple Line]]) extended its service into Wilmette.<ref name=images/> This occurred without permission from the village, as the tracks were extended from the route's [[Central station (CTA Purple Line)|existing terminal in Evanston]] into the village's border under the cover of darkness before the morning of April 1, 1912.<ref name=images/><ref name=ctalinden>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicago-l.org/stations/linden.html |title=Linden (500N/400W) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.chicago-l.org |publisher=chicago-l.org |access-date=June 8, 2017 |archive-date=June 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621111932/http://www.chicago-l.org/stations/linden.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Later that year, a second track was added in Wilmette and the station's platform was elongated.<ref name=ctalinden/> In 1913 the tracks were extended deeper into the village and the makeshift station that had been constructed under the cover of darkness was replaced with two new stations in Wilmette at [[Isabella station|Isabella]] and [[Linden station (CTA)|Linden]],<ref name=images/> the latter of which was designed by [[Arthur U. Gerber]] and served as the line's terminus.<ref name=ctalinden/>

{{multiple image
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More than 400 men from Wilmette and Gross Point Village served during World War I.<ref name=images/> 150 of them served overseas, thirteen (12 from Wilmette, and one from Gross Point) lost their lives in the war. Many women back home volunteered in the Wilmette branch of the [[American Red Cross]] Auxiliary.<ref name=images/>

By 1918 the village of Wilmette had increased its population to 5,000 from a population of only 1,500 twenty years earlier.<ref name=images/> The Wilmette Health Center (a [[free clinic]]) was founded that same year.<ref name=images/>

====Expansion during the 1920s====
Between 1900 and 1920 the village saw its population more than triple to 7,814.<ref name="shea"/> In 1922 the village adopted the "Plan of Wilmette", which outlined a vision for its future that included open spaces along Green Bay Road and the elevation of the railroad tracks to provide unobstructed flow of traffic between the east and west parts of the village.  While few of these specific plans ever materialized, the 1922 plan represents the beginning of zoning as a mode of shaping the village's development.<ref name="shea"/>

In 1919 the neighboring Village of Gross Point was dissolved due to bankruptcy.<ref name=images/> It was subsequently annexed by Wilmette, with one part being annexed in 1924 and the rest in 1926.<ref name="HoW" />

In early 1924 the village issued a permit approving construction of its first apartment building, the Linden Crest Apartments at the intersection Fifth Street and Linden. This launched a controversy, and a "No Flats" campaign was held during the following year's election. Consequentially, very few apartment buildings would be constructed in the village for the next four decades.<ref name=houses/>

The oldest surviving [[Bahá'í House of Worship]] began construction in 1920 (it would not be completed until 1953).<ref>Nancy Ryan. "Bahais celebrate anniversary; Faith's House of Worship in Wilmette 75 years old". ''Chicago Tribune''. June 12, 1987. 6.</ref><ref>{{cite book | first = Bruce W. | last = Whitmore | title = The Dawning Place | publisher= Baha'i Publishing Trust | year = 1984 | isbn=0-87743-193-0 | pages = 230}}</ref> See "Attractions" below. Across Sheridan Road from the Bahá'í property, Wilmette Harbor experienced a plethora of changes in the twenties.

The Sheridan Shore Yacht Club opened in Wilmette Harbor during the 1920s.<ref name=images/><ref name=shorelife>{{cite web |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/wilmette/news/ct-wml-sheridan-shore-yacht-club-status-tl-0331-20160329-story.html |title=Sheridan Shore Yacht Club building lease, future murky |last=Routliffe |first=Kathy |date=March 30, 2016 |website=www.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Wilmette Life; [[Pioneer Press]] ([[Tronc|Tribune Publishing]]) |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115082719/http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/wilmette/news/ct-wml-sheridan-shore-yacht-club-status-tl-0331-20160329-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The club was housed in a space on the lower floor of the [[Marshall/Goldblatt mansion|Marshall mansion]] (architect [[Benjamin Marshall (architect)|Benjamin Marshall]]'s opulent residence and studio),<ref name=images/> which sat along Sheridan Road on the south side of the harbor.<ref name=images/><ref name=houses>{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Stuart |last2=Benjamin |first2=Susan |date=2004 |title=Houses of the Lakefront Suburbs, 1890-1940 |location= New York |publisher=Acanthus Press |pages=153, 192–198, 203–207 }}</ref><ref name=bmptd>{{cite web |url=http://www.triblocal.com/wilmette-kenilworth/community/stories/2011/10/lakeshore-exhibit-opens-at-historical-museum/ |title=Lakeshore Exhibit Opens at Historical Museum |last=Kuhn |first=Rachel |date=October 20, 2011 |website=www.triblocal.com/ |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017 |quote=Carbon Petroleum Dubbs, who pushed through the building of Wilmette's water plant, to Benjamin Marshall, whose lavish lakeside mansion provided the first real home to Wilmette's new yacht club. |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115015529/http://www.triblocal.com/wilmette-kenilworth/community/stories/2011/10/lakeshore-exhibit-opens-at-historical-museum/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Marshall had allowed the club to be located in his mansion as a compromise with the village. The village had previously been unwilling to rezone the property to permit him to house his commercial offices there. As a result, Marshall had been unable to get a building permit for the home. Marshall made an offer to members of the headquarterless organization, he would let them house their headquarters in the basement of the studio if they could convince the village to issue a permit.<ref name=houses/> Soon afterwards, the village was convinced to issue a permit allowing for the construction of a "clubhouse-studio". Marshall constructed his forty-room pink-[[stucco]] [[Spanish Colonial Revival architecture|Spanish Colonial Revival]] mansion from 1922 until 1924 and decorated it with rare art and furniture.<ref name=images/><ref name=houses/> It was said to have cost somewhere between $500,000 and $1,000,000 to construct.<ref name=houses/><ref name=marshallgoldblatt1>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1936/08/06/page/3/article/goldblatt-buys-benj-marshall-1-000-000-home |title=GOLDBLATT BUYS BENJ. MARSHALL $1,000,000 HOME |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=August 6, 1936 |website=archives.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040329/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The house was built into a bluff so that only one of its three stories was visible at street level.<ref name=houses/> The residence featured an enclosed tropical [[greenhouse]] with a [[swimming pool]] and a Chinese temple room featuring a 500-year-old mandarin bed (the Chinese temple room was said to have cost $87,000).<ref name=houses/><ref name=marshallgoldblatt1/> also had an Egyptian solarium that featured a table which rose through the floor, rising up from a butler's pantry beneath it.<ref name=marshallgoldblatt1/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sarahrothschild.com/real-estate--history-blog/goldblatt-homes-a-pink-palace-wilmette |title=GOLDBLATT HOMES, A PINK PALACE & WILMETTE |last=Rothschild |first=Sarah |date=June 22, 2012 |website=www.sarahrothschild.com |publisher=Sarah Rothschild |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115014922/http://www.sarahrothschild.com/real-estate--history-blog/goldblatt-homes-a-pink-palace-wilmette |url-status=live }}</ref> The house's furnishings included a tapestry which [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] once presented to [[Madame de Pompadour]].<ref name=marshallgoldblatt1/> It was one of the North Shore's most extravagant residences.<ref name=houses/>

Development of Wilmette's 'Indian Hill Estates' subdivision began in 1926. The subdivision featured long winding roads named after Native American tribes, and its homes were built on well-manicured lots featuring deep setbacks. The early homes developed were given European styles and names.<ref name=images/>

In the 1920s, [[No Man's Land, Illinois|No Man's Land]], an unincorporated area to the north, experienced a period of tremendous exuberance. The [[Plaza del Lago|Spanish Court]], one of the nation's earliest automobile-centered shopping developments, was constructed in No Man's Land.<ref name="shea"/> Building began on such private clubs as the Miralago Ballroom, an early Art Deco building designed by George Fred Keck, which opened in 1929.<ref name="shea"/> Teatro del Lago, an opulent movie house, opened in 1927.<ref name="shea"/>

====Great Depression era====
In 1931 [[UOP LLC|Universal Oil Products]] co-founder Carbon Petroleum Dubbs was elected Village President. At the time that he took office, the village was approaching bankruptcy. To stabilize its finances, Dubbs cut the village's budget and refused his salary.<ref name=cbd1>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2004/02/04/depression-era-president-refined-wilmettes-finances/ |title=Depression-era president refined Wilmette's finances |last=Kening |first=Dan |date=February 4, 2004 |website=archives.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017}}</ref> In 1932, despite the onslaught of a national depression, Dubbs was able to finish construction on Lochmoor, his Phillip Brooks Maher-designed lakefront mansion located along Wilmette's Michigan Avenue. Construction of the residence cost him $200,000.<ref name=images/> On January 27, 1934, the village celebrated the opening of its own water plant<ref name=images/> that was completed largely due to Dubbs' commitment to the project.<ref name=bmptd/> The village had previously been purchasing its water from Evanston. Not only did Wilmette start pumping its own water, but by the year 1938 Wilmette was selling water to [[Glenview, Illinois|Glenview]].<ref name=images/> By the end of Dubbs' tenure as Village President in 1935, Wilmette had become fiscally solvent.<ref name=cbd1/>

During the depression, the [[Works Progress Administration]] program undertook a project in Wilmette to resurface brick streets. Bricks were removed and relaid upside-down, exposing a smooth non-weathered side.<ref name=images/> Another WPA project that was undertaken was the refurbishment of Wilmette pier, which is located just north of the mouth of Wilmette Harbor and had originally been built in 1906.<ref name=images/> An additional WPA project broke ground in 1936, beginning construction on a lakefront amphitheater at Gilson Park. The venue, now known as the Wallace Bowl (in honor of Gordon Wallace, Park District superintendent from 1936 until 1968), opened the following year.<ref name=parkdistrict/><ref name=bushnell/>

In 1931 [[Illinois Route 131|Green Bay Road]] was opened, supplementing Sheridan Road's role as a north–south arterial route through the North Shore.<ref name="shea"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.n9jig.com/121-140.html |title=Illinois Highways Page: Routes 121 thru 140 |last=Carlson |first=Rich |date=April 15, 2005 |website=www.n9jig |access-date=May 2, 2006 |archive-date=May 16, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060516175707/http://www.n9jig.com/121-140.html |url-status=live }}.</ref> A [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] station was established in Wilmette Harbor in 1931.<ref name=images/> In 1933 the village restricted the use of unofficial beaches, such as the one at the foot of Elmwood Avenue.<ref name=images/> Despite this people still continued to visit the Elmwood beach until the village constructed a fence to block street access to it in the 1960s.<ref name=images/>

Among the residents that were affected by the depression was architect Benjamin Marshall, who was forced to sell his house to Nathan Goldblatt (of the [[Goldblatt's]] chain).<ref name=houses/><ref name=marshallgoldblatt1/> As a result of this change of ownership, the Sheridan Shores Club was evicted from their headquarters in the lower floor of the Marshall Mansion.<ref name=houses/><ref name=marshallgoldblatt1/> In 1937 the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club constructed a new clubhouse at Wilmette Harbor.<ref name=images/><ref name=shorelife/> The Goldblatt family offered to gift the former Marshall mansion to the village for use as a community center. However, the village declined their offer.<ref name=images/> The opulent mansion was ultimately demolished in 1949 and 1950.<ref name=images/>

The Depression halted most home construction for the first half of the 1930s. However, by the middle of the decade construction slowly resumed. The homes being constructed, however, were far more modest than those that had been constructed in the previous decade.<ref name=images/> Among the homes built in this period were several designed by [[George Fred Keck]].<ref name=images/> Much of the village's 'Kenilworth Gardens' subdivision was developed during this time.<ref name=images/> Much of the Indian Hills Estates was also developed at this time, with the assistance of federal loans.<ref name=images/>

In November 1934, Monsignor John Neumann oversaw the building of a new school for [[St. Joseph Catholic Church (Wilmette, Illinois)]]. It was the only building constructed in the entire Midwest that year. President Roosevelt sent a letter commending Monsignor Neumann and St. Joseph's for their courage in undertaking the large task during the Great Depression.

The Great Depression greatly impacted No Man's Land, forcing the closure of Vista del Lago. A fire that broke out in the Miralago on the night of March 8, 1932, severely damaged the building along with many nearby properties (such as the structures abandoned by the defunct Breaker's Beach Club and Vista del Lago), thus tolling the final death knell for an exuberant era of No Man's Land's history.<ref name="shea"/>

====World War II era====
Wilmette's first brush with [[Nazi Germany]] came by way of a financial lawsuit against [[St. Joseph Catholic Church (Wilmette, Illinois)]]. In the wake of Chicago Cardinal [[George Mundelein]]'s criticisms of [[Adolf Hitler]] in 1937, (see [[Paper hanger (Mundelein's speech)]]), ridiculing Hitler for his mistreatment of Catholics, St. Joseph's was unexpectedly sued by a family in Germany, claiming to be relatives of the deceased Fr. William Netstraeter, a key figure in the expansion of Wilmette who died in 1924, thirteen years prior. Fr. Netstaeter had bequeathed a sum of $300,000 from his real-estate business for St. Joseph's, which was being held in the bank account of the [[Archdiocese of Chicago]], under Cardinal Mundelein's supervision. The lawsuit was blatantly political and clearly orchestrated by the [[Nazi Party]] in retaliation for Cardinal Mundelein's "one armed paper hanger" remark. A Chicago circuit court validated Fr. Netstraeter's will, and the money was quickly rewarded to the Archdiocese, ergo St. Joseph's. Folklore believes that Cardinal Mundelein told his chief architect, [[Joseph W. McCarthy]], to "Put the money into brick!" and construction of a large new church was instantly underway (completed in October 1939). It is believed that had Hitler/the Nazi's obtained the money, it would have gone towards Nazi military.

After the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941, village life revolved around the war effort: bond drives, air raid drills, scrap drives, and victory gardens were the order of the day.  The Wilmette Council of Civil Defense, under the chairmanship of David C. Leach, organized a wide range of activities, including classes designed to train citizens in first aid, fire-fighting, demolition, marksmanship, and bomb disposal.  Air raid wardens for every block enforced blackouts and manned battle stations during drills. On Sunday, May 23, 1943, a mock air raid on the village dropped hundreds of paper-bag "bombs" of brightly colored streamers, to test local readiness.  Eighty-three service members from Wilmette lost their lives during the war.

The Wilmette Coast Guard Station was given an increased workload during World War II, placing a heavy burden on the station's staff of 40 men. The voluntary civilian Wilmette Coast Guard Auxiliary was formed to assist the station's guardsmen during the war. Many of the Auxiliary's 64 members came from the Sheridan Shore Yacht Club and used their personal vessels to assist in operations.<ref name=images/>

In 1942, after a long legal battle, Wilmette annexed No Man's Land.<ref name="shea"/>

In August 1943 a ship named the ''USS Wilmette'' was given the honor of transporting [[President Franklin D. Roosevelt]], Admiral [[William D. Leahy]], [[James F. Byrnes]] and [[Harry Hopkins]] on a 10-day cruise to McGregor and [[Whitefish Bay]] to plan strategies for [[World War II]]. The ''USS Wilmette'' was a naval ship that had been commissioned in 1918 and was constructed by retrofitting the former ''[[SS Eastland]]'', a passenger ship which in July 1915 rolled over in the [[Chicago River]] resulting in 884 deaths (the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck in [[Great Lakes]] history).

====Postwar growth====
The postwar need for housing, combined with government-guaranteed loans and the availability of former farmland west of Ridge Road, led to a housing boom in the 1950s that utterly transformed the area west of Ridge Road from farmland to residential subdivisions. Tracts of ranch-style and bi-level houses, distinctive street layouts, and new schools, places of worship, and shopping centers quickly characterized much of west Wilmette, particularly west of Hunter Road.  Builders reflected the country's optimistic postwar mood with upbeat names for their housing styles, like "Young Modern" and "Skylark" and idyllic-sounding subdivision names like "Hollywood in Wilmette" and "Sprucewood Village".  As a direct result of this housing boom, Wilmette's population grew from 18,162 in 1950 to 28,268 a decade later.<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/>

Construction began on the [[Interstate 94 in Illinois|Edens Expressway]] in the late 1940s, and it opened in 1951. [[Carson's|Carson Pirie Scott]] opened [[Edens Plaza]] shopping center next to the new expressway in 1956.<ref name=bushnell/>

Wilmette saw a growth in youth sports during this period. The boy's youth Wilmette Baseball Association was founded in 1951.<ref name=images/> In 1953 the village opened Roemer Park, a [[Little League Baseball and Softball|Little League]] baseball park with features such as a concession stand and scoreboard.<ref name=images/> By 1962 the Wilmette Baseball Association had more than 900 youth players (including [[Bill Murray]]) and 52 teams.<ref name=images/>

Also in 1951, Wilmette Public Library built a new facility, replacing the facility that had been built in 1905.<ref name=wilmettelibrarytimeline/>

The North Shore Line ceased its service in Wilmette in 1955.<ref name=nsl1950>{{cite web |url=http://northshoreline.com/1950-end.html |title=1950-End |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.northshoreline.com |access-date=June 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312145624/http://northshoreline.com/1950-end.html |archive-date=March 12, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1968 the Curtis Curling Center, a state-of-the-art [[curling]] facility, opened in Wilmette. Its construction was funded by a $400,000 donation from Darwin Curtis, a millionaire from the neighboring town of [[Winnetka, Illinois|Winnetka]]<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/><ref name=curtisclose>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1980/08/07/page/97/article/wilmettes-curling-center-just-a-shattered-dream |title=Wilmette's curling center--just a shattered dream |last=Enstad |first=Robert |date=August 6, 2017 |website=archives.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040323/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=wilmettecurlingclub>{{cite web |url=http://www.wilmettecurling.org/v2r1/r2index.shtml |title=Welcome to Wilmette Curling Club |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.wilmettecurling.org |publisher=Wilmette Curling Club |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=July 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708184859/http://www.wilmettecurling.org/v2r1/r2index.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=bighit>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1968/03/24/page/367/article/wilmette-curling-is-a-big-hit |title=Wilmette Curling Center Is a Big Hit |last=Casady |first=John |date=March 24, 1968 |website=archives.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040319/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a $39,000 grant from the Wilmette Memorial Trust.<ref name=bighit/>

Between 1962 and 1968 the area that was once No Man's Land saw massive redevelopment. Several high-rise apartment towers and town homes were built, and the Spanish Court shopping center was renovated and renamed Plaza del Lago.<ref name="shea"/>

====Village Centennial and National Bicentennial====
The village marked the 1972 centenary of its incorporation with festivities on the lawn of Village Hall.<ref name=images/> The Curtis Curling Center hosted that year's [[United States Men's Curling Championship]].<ref name=teamusachampionships>{{cite web| url=http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Events/Championships-microsite/Inside-the-Championships/National-Championship-Events/2017-National-Championships/National-Championships/Champions--and-Awards/Men| title=Men's Championships| author=<!--Not stated-->| website=www.teamusa.org| access-date=February 18, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825212557/http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Curling/Events/Championships-microsite/Inside-the-Championships/National-Championship-Events/2017-National-Championships/National-Championships/Champions--and-Awards/Men| archive-date=August 25, 2016| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1972/03/07/page/44/article/illinois-wins-pair-in-curling |title=Illinois Wins Pair in Curling |last=Husar |first=John |date=March 7, 1972 |website=archives.chicagotribune.com |publisher=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 12, 2017 |quote=the National Curling Championship at Wilmette's Curtis Curling Center |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201040356/https://chicagotribune.newspapers.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1973 Wilmette adopted a new comprehensive plan (which had been developed between the years 1967 and 1971). In 1974 the village adopted a new zoning ordinance designed to adhere to the vision of the comprehensive plan.<ref name=bushnell/>

Centennial Park, named in honor of the village's centenary, was opened that year.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The Park District had begun buying the land for Centennial Park in 1967, but did not finish buying the last parcels until 1972.<ref name=parkdistrict/> In 1971 the Park District proposed building a sports complex at this site.<ref name=parkdistrict/> Previous plans to construct a sports complex (featuring a swimming pool, children's park, bath house/warming house, natural ice rink, and a toboggan hill) on the site of the Community Playfield were blocked afters voters narrowly opposed it in a 1968 referendum.<ref name=parkdistrict/> However, the Park District was successful in its proposal for a sports complex at Centennial Park, which was approved by voters as part of a $1.78 million parks renovation plan in a February 1971 referendum.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The sports complex was completed in 1972 with a public swimming pool and indoor tennis complex.<ref name=bushnell/><ref name=parkdistrict/> In 1974, following lobbying from local ice skating and ice hockey enthusiasts, the Park District broke ground on an expansion project that added an indoor ice complex and additional tennis courts to the sports complex. Centennial Ice Center opened to local ice enthusiasts the following year.<ref name=bushnell/>

A portion of the land that the Park District acquired for Centennial Park was a farm belonging to Michael Loutsch, the last working farm in the village.<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/><ref name=parkdistrict/> A compromise was reached in 1968 where the Park District allowed Loutsch to continue operating his farm until his death, at which point the village would assume control of the land. Centennial Park was therefore developed around his farm.<ref name=bushnell/> Per their agreement, the Park District assumed control over the land after Loutsch's death in 1978.<ref name=bushnell/> Thus, over one hundred years after its incorporation, Wilmette completed its transformation from a farming settlement into a bustling suburb.

In 1972 [[Northwestern University]] decided to sell a 106-acre golf course it owned on Lake Avenue, and offered for the village to buy it. Concerned that it might otherwise become a massive subdivision development, community groups and citizens organized to lobby for its preservation as open land. In June 1972 voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of approving $4.4 million in Park District tax bonds to finance the purchase (with 5,704 votes in favor and 785 in opposition). In November 1972 a Cook County Circuit judge set the appraisal of the land at $4.2 million, and the Wilmette Park District acquired the course.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

The same month in which the Park District acquired the golf course, citizens sent petitions to both the Park District and the Village Board requesting a referendum proposing that the Park District buy and preserve an 11-acre plot of land on the [[Mallinckrodt College]] property. The land had already been under contract, with its owners (the Society of the Sisters of Christian Charity) planning to sell it to a developer who intended to build 43 single-family homes. The referendum was held January 16, 1973, with voters rejecting the proposal. As a result, the parcel of land in question was developed into homes.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

On July 16, 1973, the Chicago Transit Authority ceased service at the Isabella station, leaving the Linden Station as the village's sole CTA station.<ref name=images/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicago-l.org/stations/isabella.html |title=Isabella (2800N/1200W) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=www.chicago-l.org |publisher=chicago-l.or |access-date=June 12, 2017 |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620215742/http://www.chicago-l.org/stations/isabella.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  In 1974 Wilmette launched a village bus system named ''[[Wilmette Wilbus|Wilbus]]''.<ref name=images/>

In 1974 the Chicago & North Western Railroad planned to demolish the structure of the former 1897 station house, which it had previously been using for storage. The village saved the structure from demolition relocating it from its position along the Chicago & Northwestern tracks to elsewhere downtown. The structure is now recognized as a local landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref name=images/> In 1975 Wilmette built a new structure to replace its 1874 railroad station. The new station began serving commuters in September, and the 1874 station was razed in order to make room for parking behind the new Village Hall.<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/>

The village had begun construction on a new Village Hall in 1973. The project would replace the 1910 Village Hall.<ref name=images/><ref name=bushnell/> It was completed in 1975. However, its dedication ceremony would be held on [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] of the following year (the [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial day]] for the adoption of the [[United States' Declaration of Independence]]).<ref name=bushnell/>

====Late 20th century====
In 1978 deficits forced the village to close the Curtis Curling Center only a decade after it first opened.<ref name=curtisclose/> The space was used for a televised [[Guinness Book of World Records|Guinness]] [[world record]]-setting 135,000 piece [[domino show]] in 1979,<ref name=curtisclose/> but would otherwise sit vacant until being converted into a senior housing complex named The Atrium in 1982.<ref name=images/><ref name=parkdistrict/> Despite the closure of the Curtis Curling Center, the Wilmette Curling Club continues to exist (albeit without a facility of their own).<ref name=wilmettecurlingclub/> They won the 1984 United States Men's Curling Championship<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Winners of Individual and Team Championships During 1985 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/29/sports/winners-of-individual-and-team-championships-during-1985.html?pagewanted=all |newspaper=[[New York Times]] |location=[[New York City]] |date=December 29, 1985 |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219090659/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/29/sports/winners-of-individual-and-team-championships-during-1985.html?pagewanted=all |url-status=live }}</ref> and represented the United States at the [[1985 Air Canada Silver Broom|1985]] men's [[World Curling Championships]] where they ultimately tied with Denmark to place 3rd overall.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/37 |title=Air Canada Silver Broom 1985 |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=results.worldcurling.org |access-date=February 18, 2017 |archive-date=February 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219142325/http://results.worldcurling.org/Championship/Details/37 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 1970s, Wilmette experienced a post-[[baby boom]] drop in primary school education. As a result, the village closed three schools (including Bell School).<ref name=parkdistrict/> The village also closed Highcrest Middle School, but retained ownership to accommodate a potential re-opening in the future. Highcrest was subsequently used by the village as a community recreation center and was for a time the home of the Wilmette Historical Museum.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

In 1973 the Park District had purchased (with the assistance of a federal grant) a 4.8 acre parcel of land near Skokie Boulevard and Hibbard for a playground. However, it was subsequently decided that instead of a playground, the Park District would develop the site as an open-space nature center. The site was incrementally developed before being officially dedicated in 1981 as the Stephen R. Keay Nature Learning Center.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The [[Green Bay Trail]] opened in 1981.

In October 1991 construction began on a new structure for the Linden Station. The new Linden Station opened in 1993, with the former station being preserved as a retail space and a local historical landmark.<ref name=images/><ref name=ctalinden/>

In 1974, the village gave a contract to the firm OTR to design and operate a bus service for Wilmette, in view of the bankruptcy of the privately owned Glenview Bus Company. The service was named by a contest as [[Wilmette Wilbus]], and it began in March 1974.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nelson |first=Wade |date=January 31, 1974 |title=Village retains OTR to devise plan |journal=Wilmette Life}}</ref> Drivers and maintenance staff were Village employees. Ridership grew as service quality was high, and the routes served the train stations, the high schools and the shopping area. In 1995 [[Pace (transit)|Pace]] took over the operations for Wilmette's bus routes, bringing an end to the village's ''Wilbus'' service.<ref name=images/>

In 1994 the board of Wilmette Public Schools District 39 voted to reopen Highcrest Middle School. This forced the Wilmette Park District to find new quarters.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The Park District bought the former Bell Elementary School building, which had been developed for use as offices, and converted it into their new home. After significant renovations, the 95,000 square foot Community Recreation Center was opened in October 1995. Parts of the center were dedicated for use by the Early Childhood Center and Meskill Senior Center (the hub of the village's programs for those aged fifty and older), creating spaces dedicated to serving some of both Wilmette's youngest and oldest residents.<ref name=parkdistrict/> Other portions of the building housed the Center Fitness Club and a brand-new gymnastics facility.<ref name=parkdistrict/> An athletic gymnasium was added to Community Recreation Center 1996 and an auditorium (funded in part by a $720,000 grant from the state) was added to the Community Recreation Center in 1998. The Auditorium is now home to ''The North Shore Theater of Wilmette'' and ''Wilmette Children's Theatre''.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

===21st century===
November 7, 2000, residents voted in favor of spending up to $10 million in general obligation bonds to reconstruct the pools at Centennial Park. Work on replacing the 30-year-old pools began on August 12, 2001. The pools were reopened ten months later on June 8, 2002.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

[[File:Wilmette Metra Station.jpg|thumb|right|In 2001 a new station house was constructed.]]

Wilmette again rebuilt its commuter rail station in 2001.

After the [[September 11 attacks]] the Wilmette Park District established the "Reach Out Wilmette" campaign in an effort to contribute to disaster relief fundraising. Special events (including a variety show, a 5K Run, aerobics classes, and a Blood Drive) were held. The campaign ultimately raised more than $10,000 in aid funding.<ref name=parkdistrict/>

[[File:2002 Winter Olympics torch relay route between Chicago and Miulwaukee.png|thumb|left|Wilmette was a stop on the [[2002 Winter Olympics torch relay]] route segment between Chicago and Milwaukee (highlighted in red box).]]

On January 5, 2002, the Olympic Torch passed through downtown Wilmette on its route from Chicago to [[Milwaukee]] during the [[2002 Winter Olympics torch relay]].<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Cheer on the Olympic torch, editorial |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois|date=January 3, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Olympic torch will bring its light through Wilmette on January 5th |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wlmette, Illinois |date=October 1, 2001 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Olympic light hits town; Torch relay to pass through downtowns on Saturday morning, map of route |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 3, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Photo Sandy Pifer in downtown Wilmette carrying the Olympic flame |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 10, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=North Shore basks in spirit of Olympics, photos runners with Olympic torch |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=January 10, 2002 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Photo children along the route of the Olympic Torch relay last January |work=Wilmette Life |location=Wilmette, Illinois |date=December 26, 2002 }}</ref>

In late 2001, a coalition of open land advocates, historic building preservationists and proponents of senior/affordable housing banded together to petition the Park District to purchase the 17-acre Mallinckrodt College property (which contained a former college building alongside 14 acres of open land). The group petitioned the village to hold a referendum on purchasing the property. Mallinckrodt property was under contract to be sold by [[Loyola University Chicago]] to a developer that intended to raze the historic 1916 structure and build a tract of single family homes. On March 19, 2002, a referendum was held, and Wilmette residents vote in favor of granting the Park District the authority to issue up to $25 million in bonds in order to purchase, improve, and maintain the Mallinckrodt College property. The village ultimately acquired the property for $20 million in September of that year. In May 2003 the [[Illinois Department of Natural Resources]] awarded the Park District a $2 million grant through the Open Land Trust program in order to preserve 5.22 acres of the property. In July 2004 a sales agreement was reached in which the Park District transferred ownership of the building to the Village of Wilmette. The village would then aim to sell the structure to a developer that would convert it into condos for senior citizens.<ref name=parkdistrict/> Under the sale agreement with the developer, the Park District has retained a 7,000 square foot space on the ground floor of the building's south wing of the building, which they operate as a community recreation space named The Mallinckrodt Center.<ref name=parkdistrict/> The Mallinckrodt Center contains the new home of the Meskill Senior Center.<ref name=parkdistrict/>