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Wilmettes 75th Anniversary 1872-1947September 18, 1947Robertthe equipment was purchased McCormickbyNew Trier Township the park district.School Caucus TriesUrged* * * Villagers toByto Keep EducationWas Organized by purchase, lease, or grant, theFormpark district now operates, in addi- Park DistrictBallot Non-Partisantion to Washington park on the lakeCitizens in 1850Like many of the villages more(Continued from page 3)front, and Vattman park, several(Continued from page 3)smaller tracts: Terminal park atpermanent organizations the Wil-included. The latter area brokeMapltwice that. The original south limite avenue and Fourth street;mette school board caucus devel-away later.of the township was Central street,I.ogan park at Central avenue andoped progressively over a long pe-* * *Friod of years rather than beingEvans ton.By 1911, the district had ac-Wifitlemeenttth street; a playground ate avenue and Fourteenthborn as someones "brain child."Until the organization of the vil-quired the "made land" alongstreet; and several triangles of landIn the early days of the civic andlages, the township was the onlythe lake shore created by themarking street intersections. Thepolitical development of Wilmette,local governmental organization,soil from the channel and thedistrict also does extensive flowerschool directors were nominated inand the town board handled many ofharbor. About the same timeplanting along the North Westernthe town meeting. This systemthe problems now assigned to thethe district obtained a striprailway tracks.worked well and was entirely demo-alongvillage councils. the shore from Washing-A number of new improvementscratic in principle, so long as theton* * * avenue, to Forest avenue.to the park system were carriedvillage remained small enough for I* * *through from 1937 to 1940 in coop-a representative group of interested |Today, New Trier township iseration with the old Works Progresscitizens to get together and agreealmost entirely urban, and onlyIn those days, there was little orAdministration of the federal gov-upon possible candidates.noabout two and one-half square sandy beach. For the most part,ernment.With the continuing growth of themiles are unincorporated. Thatthe waves lapped and lashed at* * *village, however, it became evidentarea is principally bounded bythe foot of the bluff. The construc-These included the magnifi-that the town meeting was becomingRidge, Illinois, Hibbard, andtion of the 500-foot pier to protectcent amphitheater dug out of theunwieldy and that a simpler ap-Hill roads, and includes the In-the harbor also built up a widethe bluff at the foot of Wash-proach through some of the betterdian Hill club and the WoodleyWstrielmtceht teof sand which has maderoad developments. Althoughsington avenue. The amphithea-informed citizens might result in a bathing beach one of thebester has a seating capacity ofchoice of candidates more fitted forwithin no village limits, resi-t in the country.*3,000 and has been used forthe office of school director. Recordsdents receive most of their mu- * *plays, pageants, concerts, lec-are not available, but it appearsnicipal services on a contractIn 1911, the district began the de-tures, and various patriotic andthat along about the close of thebasis from Winnetka.velopment of the area on Lake ave-religious programs.first World War the late Robert* * *nue between Park avenue and Fif-* * *Stoddard took the initiative by ask-teenth street, later named in honorAThe principal functions of the town-t the same time projects wereing the presidents of the Womansof Father Vattman.ship government today are the ad-completed to protect the shore lineclub and the then east side andTheministration of relief and the col- Wilmette Womans club ob-from damage and to make the en-west side Parent-Teachers associa-lection of real estate and personaltained permission from the parktire park system more beautifultions to send representatives to ancommissionersproperty taxes. in 1916 to take stepsand useful.informal meeting for the purpose oftoward providing public bathing fa-In December, 1946, the park dis-considering possible candidates forThe township collector is allowedcilities for Wilmette people.trict limits were extended west tothe presidency and for directors ofa commission on the amount of* * *Hibbard road, taking in all of Wil-the school board.taxes he collects. For some yearsMrsmette except a small strip lyingnow, the collector has turned his. Donald Gallie, thenpresidenfees in excess of a certain amount,twithiMore Formal Organizationn the Glenview district. of the club, and theThis informal approach to nomi-memberback into the township treasury.s of her board arrangedPresidents of the park district jnating a slate continued through theThese excess commissions have beenfor the installation of swings,have been:twenties and early thirties, but withdivingsufficient to operate the corporate boards, and benches.Louis K. Gillson 1908-1934the inclusion of citizens from otherThe beach, which was free toHenry J. Haack1934-1936organizations from timeactivities of the township and to to lime.the public, was operated forHenry Fowler1936-1944Oneprovide for poor relief. of the groups to become inter-that season by the WomansGarrett F. Johnston 1844-1946ested was the League of Women* * *club, and the following yearCarl H. Morgenstern 1946-Voters, and it -was largely throughThe township is the onlythe efforts of this organization thatgovernmental unit in Illinois ina more formalized approach waswhich all citizens may directlybrought about during the thirties.participate. Once each year, onAlong about 1936 thinking beganthe first Tuesday in April, theto develop along the lines of a rep-citizens assemble to hear the re-resentative caucus but no recordsports from the township officers,of procedure were kept until 1938.to vote the next years tax levy,The League of Women Voters sug-to approve the annual appropri-gested a number of written rules ofations, and to take up any otherprocedure that year and the caucusmatters which may come beforebecame a recognized organizationthem.committed to the responsibility of* * *finding and submitting to the elector-ate the most qualified candidatesStrangely enough, the townshipavailable for school board directors.still has a highway commissionerBroaden Membershipand a road and bridge fund, althoughto our Ileiakbthe care of the roads has been takenIn recent years membership onover entirely by the villages, by thethe caucus has been broadened andmanystate, and by the county. amendments have beenadopted to strengthen the rules. AtOfficers of the township, electedthe present time delegates are sentevery four years are: the super-l/Viimetteannually to the caucus from Wil-visor (who is also overseer of themette Parent-Teachers association.poor), the clerk, the collector, theLeague of Women Voters, Womansassessor (of personal property only),the highway commissioner, five jus-Wcluilbm, etCthamber of Commerce, ande Home Owners Association.tices of the peace, and five con-onChairmen of the school caucusstables. uourhave been:The township also employs a weeda1938:Kelloggcommissioner whose duty it is to Logsdon1939:control the growth of thistles and1940:HJaomweasrC TdM.il leeatonr75tk1941noxious weeds.:AlbertB. Tucker1942:RolandD. HinkleSupervisors of New Trier township1943:CharlesO Mainhave been:1944:CharlesB. Tuttle1945:CharlesB. TuttleJnnwersaru1946:Paul W:. PairMaimchease Harlerey185O-IS52l Gortnley 1353-10541947:J1948:WAlbertB. Tucker BRobinson, Jr,Mohionh aeGarlandI8S4-1B55t Gormtey1835-1858aJohn SehildgenJB58-1S8DWereMichael Cormley 186O-1S61 Sorry!John Sehlldgen1861-1862Sharp-eyed readers of theseMichael Gormley .... 1802-1865pagesLambert Blum1G65-1867 are sure to notify us thatThomas Thompson1867-1U69theyve found discrepancies inJacob Conrad18691870dates, names, and places. WhilewAnthony Haseomb 1870-1880e have made every effort toJJAMES L. DAVIDSON, R.PH. Lmaintain absolute accuracy, theWoHhnli aSmith1880-1891m Meier189MB9Ssource material from which theH C. McDonald 1890-1889454 Winnetka Ave., Indian HillWinnetka 2626storiesGeorge Seiber1899-1901 were obtained is oftencontradictoryA. No doubt, whenMsihchbaeel Ligare1901-1904l F. Lane 1904-1913the historical collection of theH. K. Snider1913-1914library is finally edited, these er-Gertrude Thurslon1914-1945rors will be eliminated.J. Gordon Fegelow 1945-