General Information

Population: 52,524 (based on 2000 census)
Size: 4.5 Square Miles
Government: Village manager, elected President and six Trustees
Incorporation Date: January 25, 1902
Median Age: 37.1
Number of Households: 23,607
Median Household Income: $82,171
Average Home Sale Price: $372,123
Average Condo Price: $171,213

Village Web Site: vil.oak-park.il.us

History

The rich history of Oak Park began in 1835 when Joseph and Betty Kettlestrings and their children became Oak Park's first permanent settlers when Joseph built a drafty cabin on what is today Lake Street. The family was joined by other "good people who were against saloons and for good schools and churches" when Kettlestrings began subdividing his quarter section in 1854. The arrival of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad in 1848 also spurred development.

By the 1890s that original portion of Kettlestrings tract on Lake St. was lined with shops, businesses and the spacious homes of the town's most prominent citizens. Oak Park at that time was a staunchly Republican community where social clubs flourished and residents placed a high value on work, family, observing the social amenities and regular church attendance.

And, after 1872, it was also completely "dry" when Henry Austin, Sr. a staunch supporter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, lobbied successfully for passage of a temperance bill in the General Assembly. (In 1972 this "drought" ended when the Village Board voted to allow the sale of wine and spirits in Oak Park restaurants.)

For many years Oak Parkers struggled to free themselves from the political yoke of the corrupt Cicero Township Board. It was not until November 1902 that voters overwhelmingly approved a proposition to separate from Cicero Township and establish a self-governing municipality. In December the Village's first slate of officials was elected and the first session of the new Board of the Village of Oak Park was held on January 2, 1902 at Scoville Institute.

The next two decades saw many changes in Oak Park including the development of the South Prairie by Seward Gunderson and Thomas Hulburt who built affordable homes for the working man and his family. Construction of apartments boomed after World War I despite opposition from many residents who deplored the razing of many pioneer homes to make way for these buildings. Oak Park's first housing ordinance passed in 1921 controlled, but did not prevent construction of these large apartments.

Lake St. became one of the most vibrant shopping districts in the area when several large Chicago stores including Marshall Field's and The Fair opened branches there in 1929. However, the stock market crash that same year slowed economic growth for the next decade. Throughout the thirties officials struggled just to maintain basic services and many residents were put to work on a variety of public works projects.

World War II did more to shape the history of Oak Park during the forties than any local event. Villagers went to work in plants manufacturing war materials and volunteered for civilian defense jobs. Victory gardens flourished in vacant lots while villagers collected paper, rubber, tin cans and fats to aid the war effort.

Famous Oak Parkers

During the 1950s the Village board was split into two opposing factions that brought the Village to the brink of bankruptcy. In 1952 a group of nonpartisan citizens calling themselves The Village Manager Association, proposed the community adopt the village manager form of government in which a professional administrator would manage village government according to the policies set by an elected board. In November 1952 voters approved this plan by a three-to-one margin. Today the community is still governed by this efficient system.

Few villagers were prepared for the turmoil of the sixties and seventies as the country endured assassinations, riots, the war in Vietnam and turmoil on college campuses. Closer to home, a wave of panic peddling in neighboring Austin changed the racial makeup of that community from black to white practically overnight.

All of these events made Oak Parkers reassess their values. And one of the things most people agreed on was that, if change was coming, they would manage that change and not have it manage them. At a time when the minority population in Oak Park was less than two percent elected officials and citizens chose to constructively meet the challenge of integration head on.

The creation of the Community Relations Commission, Oak Park's 1968 Open Housing Ordinance and the Village's landmark 1973 policy statement, "Maintaining Diversity in Oak Park", were the opening salvos in the village's battle against segregated housing. And more than thirty years later the village is held as a model to other communities because of progressive ordinances and programs that address both the economic and social concerns of integration. Today African-Americans represent 22 percent of Oak Park's population.

The seventies also brought a reawakening of interest in Oak Park's diverse architectural heritage. Today tourism is Oak Park's major "industry" as more almost National Historic Districts include the Ernest Hemingway Birthplace and Museum and four buildings that have been designated National Historic Landmarks.

In 1984 trustees took a stand against handgun violence when they passed an ordinance forbidding private ownership of handguns within the community. In 1994 the village board passed a Domestic Partnership Ordinance and, three years later, following a narrow victory in a non-binding referendum, an ordinance to establish a Domestic Partnership Registry in Village Hall was approved by trustees.

-Jean Guarino