Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society Meeting May 18, 2024

We love visitors, but last month we almost had one we didn't want.  A raccoon made a concerted effort to enter Grant Hall Museum but was thwarted.

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Fox Lake and the Chain O' Lakes Area really had two seasons of business 100 years ago.

The first was summer to fall with the resorts and boating.

The second one went through the winter and involved ice cutting and ice houses for storage.

Both relied upon Fox Lake's close proximity to Chicago and ease of transport via railroads.

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Between resorts and ice houses it is estimated that there were over 100 just within village limits.  In addition there were 300 within the Chain O' Lakes area.

--Cooter

The Cicadas Are A-Coming-- Part 1: May Meeting of the Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society

The May 18, 2024, Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society meeting featured a very timely talk by the Lake County Forest on "The Past, Present & Future of Cicadas."

We had been waiting and waiting for them to arrive, and guess what...  "They're Here!!"  But not everywhere.  The last week, I discovered lots of cicadas around two of my trees in the front yard.  The last time around for them, 17 years ago, I had none, but the house had been built in 1992 and my site was farmland, so not likely to get them.

In Illinois, there are two different types of cicadas: the 17-year and the 13-year.  We have the 17-year ones in Lake and McHenry counties.  13-year ones are mostly in the central and southern part of the state.  (There are also yearly cicadas, but not so numerous as the two broods out now.)

Across the world, there are 3,100 species of cicadas with 190 in North America.

Cicadas are easily the loudest of insects, able to emit 100 decibels of sound, about the level of a lawn mower.

--DaCoot

Fox Lake Area Hist. Society Meeting This Saturday

Fox Lake, Illinois.

The General Meeting of the Fox Lake-Grant Township Area Historical Society will take place this Saturday. May 21, 2022, at the Grant Hall  Museum located at 411 Washington Street in Ingleside, Illinois.

Up-dated by-laws and rules will be reviewed and approved.

It will be followed by the program:  The Shadow Hunters' Paranormal Investigation  report.  The Grant Hall Museum was in the former Grant Township Department of Transportation building which dates back to the early 1900s.  In other words, we will be finding out if we have any ghosts  in the old building.

Makes you have to think twice before volunteering for docent duty on a Sunday.

I don't know that I would want to be a docent, likely there alone if they find we have other-worldly guests there.

Not Too Scared.  Well Maybe a Little.  --CootBoo

Fox Lake Historical Society March 19 Meeting-- Part 3: About the Russell Tavern Fire and the 1959 American Legion Team

**  In 1959 the Fox Lake, Illinois American Legion team were champions of the Northern Division and went downstate where they placed third in state.  Paul Lewis, for whom the baseball field at Fox  Lake's Grant Township High School was named was coach.

**  The historical society has put together an interesting book on past gas stations in the Fox Lake area.

**  Ruth Sutton died in February.  She was a charter member of the association and president for four years..  In addition, she was the Fox Lake correspondent in the Lakeland News papers group.

RUSSELL TAVERN FIRE

It was by what is today the Black Forest Bakery.  The restaurant was about to open as the 4 Eagles which was to be a Wisconsin-style super club.

Located on Route 12 (US-12) across from the current BP station next to the old Lupo's which is where part of the Ray Chevrolet used car lot is today.

--Cooter

Illinois' Chain of Lakes-- Part 11: The Different Lakes and World Famous Lotus Beds

The lakes offer a variety of different activities as each is different.  The two largest Lakes are Fox Lake and Pistakee Lake at about 1.700 acres each.  They provide space for open boating and fishing.

Originally Pistakee was a shallow lake full of marshes and waterfowl, a great place for hunting.  The creation of the dam at McHenry, Illinois,, increased the depth of the lake and made it navigable.  Fox and Pistakee lakes were well-known for boating even back to the early 1900s.  They were especially known for sailboat races and Pistakee still has a Pistakee Yacht Club, featuring sailboats.

Grass Lake (Grasslake) is the third largest lake and estimated to cover 1360 acres, but is considered the shallowest of the Chain of Lakes with an average depth of 3 feet.  It was best-known to visitors in the early 1900s because of its world-famous Lotus Beds.  Rising lake levels due to the dam fairly well caused their decline, but in the last few years they are making a comeback.

--RoadChain