Farm group looking for Lake Co.'s agricultural past

While some old barns and farm buildings remain as evidence of Lake County's agricultural past, much of that heritage has faded away or been paved over.

One group continues a quest to find and showcase those roots, however.

The Lake County Heritage Farm Foundation will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Lake County Farm Bureau office, 70 Route 45, Grayslake.

The purpose is to showcase the group's Web site, lchff.org, and cultivate pictures, stories and other information regarding farms of the past to be posted for general consumption on an interactive database.

"By reaching out to this audience, we hope to capture the living history of Lake County," said Jeff Walsh, a director of the nonprofit group.

"What we're trying to do is document what was in Lake County," said Walsh.

The site allows farmers and those involved with agriculture, as well as the general public, a chance to share histories of the family farms with anyone interested in Lake County's heritage.

Information initially focused on barns but photos or stories about specific farm buildings or historical events, for example, also are being sought.

"This is a great way for us to save memories," said Mary Lou Diebold, a member of the Lake County Farm Bureau. "I've started putting in information about our farm, and if I can do it, anybody can."

Established in 2001, the foundation's big picture goal still is to establish a functional farm as an interactive educational experience for the public, school kids, families and other groups.

In the short term, however, the group is doing what it can afford to do, Walsh said. That involves expanding the database and upgrading the Web site to increase the ability for users to add photos.

"That's what people want to see," said Walsh. "We hope to have that up in the first half of the year."

The open house is being held to explain the effort, solicit information and get more people involved.

The Web site allows anyone to register and participate in updating the database. The site features a map showing the locations of farms the organization already has information about.

At one time, more than 800 farms operated in Lake County.

"This was a major dairy producing area in the '30s, '40s and into the '50s," said Walsh.

The foundation would like to gather and post information on every farm that was at one time part of the county's farm heritage, but the number gathered to date is far short of that.

For more information, call Andy Blaul at (847) 223-6506 or e-mail ablaul@ameritech.net.