Editing Forest Park, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[File:Haymarket-martyrs-memorial-Forest-Home-Cemetery-IL.jpg|thumb|170px|''[[Haymarket Martyrs' Monument]]'', [[Forest Home Cemetery (Chicago)|Forest Home Cemetery]]]]
The community (formerly part of a larger town called Harlem) officially became incorporated under the name of Forest Park on April 17, 1907.

For much of its history, Forest Park was known as a "Village of cemeteries", with more dead "residents" than living ones; some figures estimate the ratio at 30:1, dead to alive. Forest Park cemeteries include [[Altenheim Cemetery|Altenheim]],<ref name="Concordia"/> [[Forest Home Cemetery (Chicago)|Forest Home Cemetery]] (incorporating the German Waldheim Cemetery),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/foresthome/| title=Forest Home and German Waldheim Cemeteries| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> [[Jewish Waldheim Cemetery|Jewish Waldheim]] (producer [[Mike Todd]] is buried in Beth Aaron there<ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/waldheim/michaeltodd.html| title=Gravesite-Mike Todd| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref>),<ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/waldheim/| title=Jewish Waldheim cemeteries| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> [[Woodlawn Cemetery (Forest Park, Illinois)|Woodlawn]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/woodlawn/| title=Woodlawn Cemetery| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/woodlawn/woodlawn.html| title=Woodlawn Cemetery sign| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> (including [[Showmen's Rest]]),<ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/woodlawn/baldy.html| title=Showmen's Rest I| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/woodlawn/elephant1.html| title=Showmen's Rest II| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> and Concordia.<ref name="Concordia">{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/concordia/| title=Concordia and Altenheim Cemeteries| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.ingodsarms.com/| title=Concordia Cemetery, Forest Park, IL website| publisher=Concordia Cemetery| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref> Forest Home Cemetery is home to the famous ''[[Haymarket Martyrs' Monument]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://graveyards.com/IL/Cook/foresthome/ne-haymarket.html| title= Haymarket Monument-Forest Home Cemetery| author=Matt Hucke| publisher=Matt Hucke| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref>

From 1925 to 1931, Forest Park had a radio station with a variety of call letters. The station began in 1925 as WHT. It was known as WNBA, with its studios near Des Plaines and Roosevelt Road from 1927 to 1928. In 1929, the call letters changed again, this time to WSOA and again to WCHI in 1929. As WSOA, the radio station had 5,000 watts of power. It went off the air for good in 1931.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/QSL-WSOA-Forest-Park-Illinois-1929-/151222157956?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23358b0284&nma=true&si=I9FdDZhS8i0%252F8nwd%252FzLNFNU9hV4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 |title=QSL card for Radio Station WSOA |date=1929 |access-date=March 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318234030/http://www.ebay.com/itm/QSL-WSOA-Forest-Park-Illinois-1929-/151222157956?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23358b0284&nma=true&si=I9FdDZhS8i0%252F8nwd%252FzLNFNU9hV4%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 |archive-date=March 18, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTQ0WDE1OTk=/z/bRgAAOxyUrZS6wR-/$_57.JPG |title=Photo of QSL card for radio station WSOA showing it was operating at 5,000 watts of power |date=February 24, 1929 |access-date=March 18, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319001939/http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTQ0WDE1OTk%3D/z/bRgAAOxyUrZS6wR-/%24_57.JPG |archive-date=March 19, 2014 }}</ref>

The [[Naval Ordnance Station Forest Park]] (originally a Naval Ordnance Plant) operated from early in [[World War II]] until most of the plant was replaced by a mall in 1971, with some of the site used as a [[United States Navy Reserve|Naval Reserve]] center until 2007. The plant employed up to 6,500 workers and produced 19,000 [[torpedo]]es during World War II.<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/09/05/old-torpedo-factory-hit-by-military-site-closings/ Chicago Tribune, 5 September 2005, "Old Torpedo Factory Hit by Military Site Closings"]</ref>

In 2007, the town held a summer-long centennial celebration. Forest Park has also held two other centennial celebrations, one in 1956 for when the first settlers came and one in 1984 for the 100th anniversary of the creation of the town of Harlem.<ref>Poplawska, Anna. [http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=51&ArticleID=2519&TM=53837.24 Forest Park turns 100-again!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711022201/http://forestparkreview.com/main.asp?SectionID=6&SubSectionID=51&ArticleID=2519&TM=53837.24 |date=July 11, 2011 }}. [http://www.forestparkreview.com/ Forest Park Review]. Printed August 28, 2007. Accessed 2007-09-03.</ref>

Women's professional baseball/softball has roots in Forest Park. Emery Parichy purchased the Boston Bloomer Girls softball team in the early 1930s, renamed them Emery Parichy's Bloomer Girls, and moved them to Forest Park. The team operated in the suburb until 1955, when the land their softball field was on was taken for the [[Interstate 290 (Illinois)|Eisenhower Expressway]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.forestpark.net/pdf/FPHistory.pdf| title=Forest Park History| publisher=Forest Park.net| access-date=December 9, 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131159/http://www.forestpark.net/pdf/FPHistory.pdf| archive-date=July 23, 2011| url-status=dead}} ([[PDF]])</ref>

=== Amusement park ===
Forest Park was the location of Forest Park Amusement Park,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081121103651/http://www.forestparkpubliclibrary.org/HistoricalSociety/AmusementPark.htm Forest Park Amusement Park<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> a small but popular amusement park located just west of Desplaines Avenue, and just north of the then Waldheim Cemetery, from 1907 to 1922. Initially, the park was received negatively by Chicago area church members due to its close proximity to the cemetery. However, its public acclaim helped bring in a crowd of approximately five to ten thousand on opening day, and the various rides, games, and shows the park had to offer kept residents coming back.<ref name="Opening">{{cite web |url=https://www.forestparkhistory.org/opening.html |title=Opening |publisher=The Historical Society of Forest Park |access-date=August 29, 2018 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On July 25, 1918, a fire broke out in the swimming pool's boiler room. The fire quickly spread to other utility areas of the park which left firefighters without access to water and power. The park planned to reopen later that same day, though 1/5th of the park was destroyed by the fire. In the years following the fire, the park was mostly successful primarily due to events and activities that helped the community and the park's occasional rallies against [[Prohibition in the United States|prohibition]]. However, with the [[Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|18th Amendment]] taking effect coupled with a strict crack-down on gambling, the park never reopened following the cessation of its 1922 season.<ref name="Closing">{{cite web |url=https://www.forestparkhistory.org/closing.html |title=Closing |publisher=The Historical Society of Forest Park |access-date=August 29, 2018 |archive-date=September 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930081202/https://www.forestparkhistory.org/closing.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://drloihjournal.blogspot.com/2017/01/forest-park-amusement-park-desplaines.html |title=The History of Forest Park Amusement Park |date=January 16, 2017 |publisher=The Digital Research Library of Illinois History Journal |access-date=August 29, 2018 }}</ref> Its former location is now occupied by the [[Forest Park (CTA station)|Forest Park station]] on CTA's Blue Line at Desplaines Avenue.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://chicago.urban-history.org/ven/pks/forest.shtml| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927070715/http://chicago.urban-history.org/ven/pks/forest.shtml| archive-date=September 27, 2011| title=Forest Park| publisher=Jazz Age Chicago| access-date=June 12, 2010}}</ref>

===Circle Theatre===
For most of its history, Forest Park was home for the 25-year-old professional (non-equity) theater company, Circle Theatre, which now resides across Harlem Avenue in neighboring Oak Park.<ref name="Circle">"In 1985, Karen Skinner, Wayne Buidens and Joseph Bass founded Circle Theatre with the mission of making exciting theatre available to the western suburbs of Chicago. They chose the name "Circle Theatre"." {{cite web| url=http://www.circle-theatre.org/about-us/  |title=About Us-Circle Theatre|publisher=Circle Theatre|access-date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> Hedy Weiss of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' writes: "One of the most consistently satisfying theatrical operations in the area ...everything from classics to new American plays ...theatre at its very best." Circle Theatre has produced over 175 productions and received over 80 Joseph Jefferson (JEFF) nominations and won over 30 Jeff Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.circle-theatre.org/about-us/awards.shtml|title=Awards-Circle Theatre|publisher=Circle Theatre|access-date=December 9, 2010}}</ref> Notable visits from famous playwrights have included Marvin Hamlisch, Rupert Holmes, Douglas Post, Michael John LaChiusa, Stephen Clark and Rebecca Gilman.<ref name="Circle"/> Rebecca Gilman had her first play produced at Circle Theatre before becoming one of America's leading playwrights. Notable supporters have included [[Harry Connick, Jr.]] and [[Russell Crowe]].<ref name="Circle"/> Award-winning director/choreographer [[Kevin Bellie]] was artistic director from 2003 to 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jones|first=Chris|title=Kevin Bellie exits Circle, to freelance direct|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/11/05/kevin-bellie-exits-circle-to-freelance-direct/|access-date=May 16, 2014|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=November 5, 2012}}</ref>