Kline Creek Farm, a Living History Farm and Museum in West Chicago, Illinois.

Take a step back in time. The Kline Creek Farm, in the Timber Ridge Forest Preserve, shows what life on a working farm in the 1890s was like.in DuPage County, Illinois.

Stroll through restored farmstead structures and meet the historically-costumed interpreters operating this living-history farm using the tools and techniques of the past. Activities and events at the farm re-create the seasonal rhythms that have governed farm life for centuries.

Kline Creek Farm presents 19th-century farm activities, such as baking, canning, planting, harvesting, sheep shearing, and ice cutting among other activities.

The farmhouse was the center of domestic activities and today contains original artifacts and reproductions that enhance its homelike atmosphere. Depending on the time of year, staff and volunteers plant heirloom fruits and vegetables in the kitchen garden, tend to the orchard, work in the wagon shed or cure sausages in the smokehouse.

Percheron workhorses help plant and harvest crops of corn, oats, and other small grains; and resident livestock, such as the farm’s Southdown sheep, Shorthorn and Angus cattle, and chickens, occupy the farm’s coop, barn, fold, and pastures.

Beekeeping is also a long-standing tradition at Kline Creek Farm. Since 1984 volunteer beekeepers have managed the farmstead’s apiary by caring for the bees, extracting and processing honey, and leading educational programs and tours that focus on the honeybee’s role as a primary pollinator for two-thirds of all U.S. crops.

Kline Creek Farm

Forest Perserve District of DuPage County

1N600 County Farm Road, West Chicago, Illinois.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Early 1800s Log House Was Uncovered in West Salem, Edwards County, Illinois, in July 2014.

Linda Giese has known for years her old house held a secret, but she had no idea she was holding onto a true treasure. Giese is the proud owner of an original early 1800s log house, right here in West Salem.

The old frame house on North West Street was Giese’s home for over 25 years, but about ten years ago she moved into a new modular. “Earthquake damage and termites had really taken their toll, and I just couldn’t afford to repair the foundation,” said Giese. Every day, Giese looked out her front door and saw the house she had raised her children in, but that all changed recently. Now she has a much different view.

With the old house beyond repair, demolition was scheduled and S&S Excavating was contracted to do the work. “When I told him there was a log cabin inside the old house, he didn’t think he could save it. But once he got started, he got excited and told me he thought he could do it after all,” said Giese.

She had high praise for the company as they managed to demolish the old frame house without damaging the 14’ x 18’ log cabin.

The log cabin served as the home’s dining room, and its discovery was made years ago during a small home improvement project. “I wanted a little window (pass-through) cut in the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. My husband had to use a chain saw to do it because he ran into logs. That’s when we realized part of the house was a log cabin.”

While the earliest date showing up in the property’s abstract is 1843, it’s difficult to determine the actual age of the cabin. Deeds and abstract work only deal with the actual property, not dwellings.

The first property owner listed is Philip Clodfelter. He officially laid claim to the land and was granted a land patent (another name for a first-title deed) by the United States of America in 1843. The last names of other property owners through the years are familiar to many: Herman, Matthes, Busefink, Campbell, Nix, Drysdale, Hayes, Fore, Aidt, and Greathouse.

Giese is hopeful someone will be able to provide a more accurate time period for the cabin based on how it was built.

Giese’s parents, Gustav and Lavina Hausler purchased the house in 1975 and sold it to Giese three years later. “They owned the No Name Restaurant on the Square, and it was just easier for them to live up there. I really wish my parents were here to see this. They had no idea about the cabin, and my mom loved living here.”

Giese said she plans to preserve the cabin, with the help of her grandson Tony Chapman. “Tony’s going to repair the roof and fill in the end. Some day I would like to put an old wood stove back in it, and furnish it the way it would have been.”

Giese said there has been a lot of interest in the cabin in the last few weeks with people driving by, taking pictures, and asking questions. She’s excited to be able to share her treasure with people. She added, “It was a good house to raise my kids in.”

Edwards County Times Advocate Newspaper

Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Claus Grocery Store at 11th and Spruce streets was a Springfield landmark for about 90 years.

This picture from the State Journal-Register photo archives shows the store in its full glory in 1945.

The horse-drawn carriage in the picture remained in use for another 29 years, as Claus continued using it to deliver groceries until 1974, then sold animal feed and farm products until closing in the mid-1990s.

The Claus Grocery Store was built in 1905 by Joe Claus.  It is a rectangular, one story, clapboard sided frame building with a gable roof. The store was attached to a two story frame house.  There also was a two story frame barn and another large frame shed behind the store and house.

The exterior appearance of the buildings has changed little since they were built. The interior of the store also looks much as it must have when it was used for a grocery store.

It still has an unfinished wood floor, a pressed metal ceiling tiles, an old wood counter, an old manual adding machine with a lever crank, and an old wooden cash register. The significance of the structure comes from the unchanged appearance of a building constructed over 110 years ago.

Architecturally, the Claus Grocery Store typifies the modest one story neighborhood grocery stores that were located in many of Springfield’s older residential neighborhoods. The store’s wood floor, pressed metal ceiling tiles, and large plate glass show windows with glass transoms are typical of the detailing found in neighborhood grocery buildings of that era.

Joe Claus discusses his family neighborhood grocery store in Springfield: goods and merchandise sold, customers, credit system, and distributors. Interviewed in 1976 in his Joe Claus Memoir, found in my Digital Research Library of Illinois History®

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.