Village of Skokie history

IN THE YEAR 1831, Andrew Jackson was still in his first term as the seventh President of the United States, presiding over its then 24 states and approximately 13 million citizens.

By 1832, a few American soldiers may have passed through the area to fight in the Black Hawk War, named for the chief of the Sauk Indian tribe, whose initial skirmishes had taken place the previous year.

Through a formal treaty in 1833, the same year that the town of Chicago was incorporated, the three most prevalent tribes, the Potawatomi, Chippewa and Ottawa, surrendered all their lands in Illinois and prepared to move west of the Mississippi River.

But on this day in 1834 John Ruland was looking for drier land and pushed on through the dense oak and maple forest to the next ridge, our Lincoln Avenue, which was a well-trod Indian trail. . . There he called it a day’s journey and made himself a dug-out for a shelter.

The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, started in 1836, was the first of many lines that would make Chicago an important railroad terminus, and eventually replace the stagecoach business.

Benjamin Hall (for whom Hall Road is named) and John Marshall built the North Branch Hotel in Dutchman’s Point in 1837.

Caldwell, the son of a British army officer and a Potawatomi woman, was, at the time of his death in 1838, the chief of the Potawatomies, Ottawas and Chippewas.

Peter Blameuser, Jr. made his commercial debut in 1865 by opening a clothing store that he later expanded into a general store.

George Busscher, Sr. unveiled his blacksmith shop in 1879, and seven years later found himself competing with two other shops owned by Peter Baumhart and Herman Gerhardt.

A textbook department opened in 1894 with the publication of the Rand McNally Primary School Geography.

Paroubek’s Bakery about 1900, then at 8057 Niles Center Road

By 1909, George Busscher, Jr. had opened an eclectic store where a customer could buy anything from a horsedrawn buggy to a sewing machine to a can of paint.

Rand McNally began publication of Goode’s School Atlas, now Goode’s World Atlas, a pioneer work in school geography, in the early 1920s.

Ray W. Haben launched the Haben Funeral Home at 8057 Niles Center Road in 1929, which is still owned and operated by the family at the same location.

What was to be for many years Skokie’s largest employer, Teletype Corporation took up residence on Touhy Avenue in 1951.

Rand McNally & Company, which has long held the distinction of being the world’s largest maker of road maps, came to Skokie in 1952.

The Old Orchard Bank was launched in 1956, by a group made up of Lucius A. Andrew, Jr., Richard D. Culver, Russell H. Matthias, Alva W. Phelps, and Daniel C. Searle.

The North Shore Hilton, at the corner of Skokie Boulevard and Golf Road, opened its doors in 1973, and today has 368 rooms and suites.

In 1977, Urban Investment sold a 90 percent interest in Old Orchard to BKCG Private Acquisition Group Ltd.

Old Orchard Shopping Center, view of Montgomery Ward Store, 1985

Created to commemorate Skokie's centennial in 1988, this online version reproduces the full-text of the paper volume (also available at the library).