Chicago's Love Affair with Live Oysters Began in 1835.

New Englanders settled in Chicago, bringing with them a taste for oysters. Chicago had become a huge oyster town, with sizeable multilevel oyster houses. These houses would have a dance hall, lunchroom, formal dining, and taprooms in one massive building.

Shell Oysters.

Delivered by sleigh from New Haven, Connecticut, the first fresh oysters in Chicago were served in 1835 at the Lake House Hotel on Kinzie Street. The Lake House Hotel establishment was our city's first foray into (5-Star) fine dining and offered these East Coast imports to their well-heeled clientele. It was the first restaurant to use white tablecloths, napkins, menu cards, and toothpicks. 

This spurred Chicago's earliest love affair with the oyster. By 1857, there were seven "Oyster Depots" and four "Oyster Saloons" in the city. 

Chicago's population in 1860 was 109,000. Peaking in the Gilded Age of the 1890s, with a population of just over a million people and waning with Prohibition, oyster consumption was plentiful in old Chicago.

The Boston Oyster House in Chicago offered no fewer than 42 oyster selections, divided among "Select," "New York Counts," and "Shell Oysters." In 1893, a dozen raw oysters were 25¢; if you ordered the same dozen fried, the price doubled to 50¢. The most expensive was broiled oysters (60¢ a dozen with celery sauce or 75¢ with mushrooms).

Oysters Six Ways.

Believe it or not, Ice Cream parlors also served oysters because they had all that ice.

In the 1890s, express-service refrigerated train cars shipped oysters and other perishable foods nationwide. The vehicles did not come into general use until the turn of the 20th century.

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The oysters were kept alive on ice while being transported. If an oyster's shell opens, they die. Dead oysters carry some very dangerous bacteria for humans.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois - East Wenona, Illinois.

The Village of East Wenona was a village in Osage Township, LaSalle County, Illinois. East Winona was located on the eastern border of the city of Wenona (Wenona was incorporated in 1859) which is in Marshall County.

The village was incorporated on May 7, 1908. Wenona had a population of 367 in 1910 and 333 in 1920. The post office address was in Wenona. Between 1925 and 1927 the village of East Wenona was annexed by Wenona.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois - Shermerville, Illinois.

In 1833 Joel Sterling Sherman and his family bought 160 acres of land in the northwest quarter of Section 10 for $1.25 per acre; Northbrook's downtown is now located on this site.

Soon after Mr. Sherman bought that land the area was named Shermerville after Mr. Frederick Schermer who donated the land for the first railroad station (Schermer Station and later Shermer Station). By the 1870s, the region was a farm town with well-established brick yards which prospered during the rebuilding that followed the Great Chicago Fire in October of 1871.

In 1901 following a close referendum, the town was incorporated as the Village of Shermerville with about 60 homes and 311 residents. The village had five saloons, a meat market, a coal and feed store, a general store, a harness store, a stonecutter, and a railroad station. Shermerville gained notoriety during its early years for boisterous gatherings at its inns and taverns. By 1921, residents felt that the Shermerville name had a bad reputation.

In 1923 the Citizens Club of Shermerville started a movement to change the name of the village and asked residents to submit new names for the village. A postcard listing several choices was then sent to residents for them to vote for their favorite. Northbrook, the name submitted by Edward Landwehr, was the one chosen. A petition signed by one hundred twenty-six residents was presented to the Board of Trustees asking them to change the name of the Village to Northbrook. At that time there were 500 residents.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.