Patch Passport: Travel Back In Time

To honor the 175 years since the area’s settlers came together to name the land after our country’s independence, we’ve compiled a time line of Libertyville’s history with the help of the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society.

The Beginning

• Before the arrival of settlers, the area now known as Libertyville was inhabited by Potawatomi, Algonquin, Fox, and Sac tribes who hunted the land and used the waterways for travel.
• In 1835, a frontiersman from the East Coast named George Vardin settled in the area, and the piece of land on the Milwaukee Trace soon became known as Vardin’s Grove. With rich fields, wildlife, wildflowers, and wooded river valley, settlers came to claim land for their homes.
• On July 4, 1836, as the new locals came together in celebration of the country’s 60th birthday, they renamed their land “Independence Grove.” The area was growing and within the same year, the first school was built on present day Cook Street. The name would undergo several more name changes before permanently becoming “Libertyville” in 1841.
• In 1847, the Lake County Poor Farm was built as a home for unwed mothers, poor, mentally ill, and alcoholics. Later, this would become the Winchester House in 1942.

Mid to Late 1800’s

• In 1850, township government was set up, and Route 176 was built as a military road. The large farms of Libertyville were prosperous in the mid 1800’s, as well as sprouting businesses. A newly established bottled water company, Albana Springs, bottled water from springs along present day Newberry and Park Place.
• The Cook residence was built in 1876, as a summer home for Ansel B. Cook, and four years later, the railroad came to Libertyville. This would be the start of a new era for Libertyville as factories like the Libertyville Metal Stamping Company, Laycock Steam Engine factory, and Earl Ladder Company, located in the Foulds Pasta building, grew along the rail line.
• The Lake County Fair was held in Libertyville at this time. From 1882 to 1925, the fair took place on 16 acres of land purchased from Appley Farm. The area is now Lake Minear.
• In 1882, the village was incorporated with John Locke as the first president.
• In 1895, Libertyville saw one of its greatest disasters. On August 31, a fire ravaged the downtown business district. Between 25 and 30 downtown businesses were destroyed.
• From 1880 to 1890, Libertyville’s population grew from 221 to 550.

1900 to 1950

• By 1910, horse-drawn carriages were sharing the road with automobiles. Cars soon became more abundant and when Milwaukee Avenue was paved in the 1920’s it became the main route for vacationers traveling from Chicago to Wisconsin.
• At this time, there were more than 1,700 residents in Libertyville.
• Libertyville Township High School, now the Brainerd Center, was built in 1917. Four years later, the Cook Mansion was given to the village by Emily B. Cook for use as a library.
• The 1920s were considered boom years for Libertyville. Foulds Pasta would hold large family picnics in the summer, to which the whole town was invited. The Copeland Manor housing development was being built. Advertisements for new houses in the subdivision offer $3 to $9 down per week. Condell Hospital was built in 1928, originally housing 25 beds. The hospital would receive two major expansions over the years, eventually becoming today’s only Level 1 trauma center in the area.
• Despite the depression, the 1930s still ushered in new building projects like the Central School building on School Street and the Liberty Theater.
• By 1940, there were around 4,000 people living in Libertyville, with 250 people commuting to Chicago per day by train.

1950 to Present

• During the 1950’s the village acquired the Adler Estate to use as a park and the Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society was established. Milwaukee Avenue was widened to a two lane road to accommodate more traffic.
• During the 1960 presidential campaign, Libertyville was a stop for candidate John F. Kennedy, where around 7,000 people turned out to show their support.
• The village’s new library was built in 1968, and the Cook House became a museum and home to the historical society.
• In 1989, Mainstreet Libertyville was formed. The non-profit organization was established to help preserve the history of downtown Libertyville as well as maintain economic growth.
• Today Libertyville has almost 22,000 residents.

A Piece of History With a Side of Popcorn

In 1937, during the Great Depression, the Liberty Theater was constructed at the corners of Milwaukee and Newberry Avenues. The theater prided itself on being air conditioned.

In his memoir, Growing Up in Libertyville in the Thirties and Forties, Murrell “Bud” Boyd describes the theater as “movie house standard for that time with a lobby and two aisles running down the sloping floor to the stage.”

“The Saturday matinees cost 11 cents and featured news, coming attractions, a cartoon, one or more serials, and a double feature, usually westerns with Buck Jones, Ken Maynard, Tom Mix, or one of the many western heroes,” he wrote. “High school boys in uniform acted as ushers, showing patrons to seats with a flashlight, maintaining order.”

It’s rumored that Marlon Brando worked at the theater as an usher after it first opened.

Today the theater shows two movies at a time every day of the week. Matinees are $4 and popcorn refills are free.

Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society

The Libertyville-Mundelein Historical Society has worked hard to maintain accurate, illustrated materials to provide residents with information about the history of their town. They have also worked to preserve its historical integrity. Aside from hosting programs and maintaining the museum and archives housed in the Cook House, historical society members and affiliates have written numerous accounts of Libertyville’s history including Libertyville (Then & Now) by Laura Hickey, Arlene Lane, and Sonia Schoenfield, and Libertyville (Images of America) by Jim Moran. The museum is opened to the public on Sunday afternoons during the summer.