The White Birch Forest at Lunt and Ashland in 1900, Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois.

Rogers Park News-Herald, June 29, 1900.

By the turn of the 20th century, a lot of Rogers Park lakefront was still Birch and Oak Forests which, not surprisingly, gave its name to Birchwood Avenue. The subdivision of Birchwood Beach extended from Birchwood Avenue south to Touhy Avenue for about 1/2 mile and west to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad tracks (today's CTA Red Line) in the Rogers Park community of Chicago.

At the rate the native birch trees are dying out and getting cut down it won't be long before the great forest will become extinct.

The Birch Forest extended from about Birchwood Avenue south to Touhy Avenue, about 1/2 mile, and west to just west of where Sheridan Road is today, in the Rogers Park community of Chicago, ca.1900.

Dr. Ward Green Klarke, interviewed in November of 1927.
While I did not come to Rogers Park to live until 1906, I remember coming to the district as early as 1884 to hunt. Ducks found Rogers Park a good lighting place and we came here for the excellent hunting to be found. At that time there were no cross streets between Pratt and Touhy Avenues. I remember when Carter Harrison was mayor and Sheridan Road was improved from a sandy stretch to a cinder path. That was in 1894 and the time of the bicycle craze, and people riding their bikes used to venture north of Devon Avenue because the wooded land was beautiful.

White Birch Woods in the Rogers Park community of Chicago, Illinois.

Then the Birchwood District was covered with white birch and now (in 1927) you cannot find one in the whole of Rogers Park.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 
Accounts from Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society 

Heinrich "Henry" Harms founder of Skokie and the Harms Park Restaurant and Picnic Grounds in Chicago, Illinois.

Henry Harms, 1914

Heinrich (Henry) Harms (1832-1914) is considered the founding father of Niles Centre (Niles Centre, Incorporated 1888; Americanized to Niles Center1910; Renamed to Skokie 1940).

Harms, born in Prussia immigrated to the United States in 1851. He purchased a farm and built a home on the current site of the Skokie Village Hall in 1854. In 1858, Harms became Skokie’s first merchant when he opened a general store at what is now the intersection of Lincoln and Oakton.

Throughout his life, Harms served in various civic positions: township constable, supervisor and commissioner of highways, and Cook County Drainage Commissioner.  He founded three school districts in Niles Township, and began operating Skokie’s first post office in 1863, becoming the area’s first postmaster.

Henry Harms First Home.

At one point, Harms owned 1,800 acres of Cook County real estate. Much of the area surrounding the current Lincoln and Oakton intersection to the west, south, and east was part of the Harms farm - Oakton Street was once called Harms Avenue. The Lincoln Avenue planked toll road, which ran between present day Galitz Avenue in Skokie and Halsted Street in Chicago, was developed by Harms. Harms’ many contributions earned him the title of founder. Father to fourteen children.

Henry Harms third and last house at 5319 Oakton Street, Skokie.

Oil painting depicts the house owned by Henry Harms. This 1869 farmhouse was built of hand-made bricks, located near the current site of the Skokie Public Library on Oakton Street. The house is shown with a porch and tall trees covered with colorful autumn leaves.

Harms Park was a privately-owned picnic grove located at the northeast corner of Western and Berteau Avenues in Chicago.

Harms Park Restaurant and Picnic Grounds became a park in 1893, lasting until 1946, when the land was re-developed for private housing.

Many events and festivals were held in Harms Park, most notably the Chicago Old Settlers’ Picnic, which celebrated Chicago’s oldest citizens. 1937 marked Chicago’s hundreth year as a city, and the Chicago Charter Jubilee held various celebrations and events, among them this picnic, which was held annually until 1946.

Present day Harms Road and Harms Woods are named in his honor.

Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.