Monday, March 2, 2009

Waukegan, Illinois History-- Part 2

The historic and elegant Genesee Theatre was the site of the world premier of Jack Benny's 1939 movie "Man About Town."

Lake County's first bank, the First National Bank of Waukegan was founded in 1852.

Alfred Bennett, brother of Lake County's first black settler Amos Bennett, farmed 40 acres in the 1850s on the east side of what is now the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. Amos Bennett came to lake County in 1834 and claimed to be the first settler to plant corn.

In 1848, a 15-mile plank road was built from Waukegan to Hainesville at the cost of $2,000 per mile. There were three toll gates established, but they were abandoned a short time later because of insufficient revenue.

The courthouse was finished in 1876 at a cost of $40,000.

Edward Amet, who invented the first successful movie projector, the Magniscope, worked out of a studio at 421 North Avenue. In 1898 he and a crew recreated the Battle of Santiago in the Spanish-American War in his back yard in a water tank. He also filmed the 1896 inauguration of President McKinley.

Some Mighty Interesting Facts. --Cooter

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