Book about Lake Zurich history, evolution

Driving through the streets of Lake Zurich today, residents might not guess it used to be a resort destination for people to get away from Chicago.

As Lake Zurich turns 115 years old in 2011, a new book due later in the year celebrates the history of the town and its evolution over the years.

“Lake Zurich,” will be available in May from Aradia Publishing, a company that has books about small towns across the country, including Libertyville, Mundelein and other Chicago suburbs.

“I was just interested in pursuing something more and was surprised there hadn't already been a book about Lake Zurich,” said author Courtney Flynn, who grew up in the area and spent almost nine years covering the suburbs for the Chicago Tribune.

Flynn said she talked to old friends, connected with people on Facebook and reached out to others in the community to help with her research.

Former mayor Hank Paulus, the Lake County History Archives, the local Lions Club and the Ela Historical Society also helped provide information and photos for the book.

“History has always been very important to me personally as well as my ancestry,” said Nancy Loomis Schroeder, president of the Ela Historical Society, who also helped Flynn with the book. “My ancestors were some of the early pioneers in Lake Zurich.”

Loomis Schroeder's father is Spencer Loomis, who was a history teacher in Lake Zurich; the Spencer Loomis Elementary in Hawthorn Woods is named for him.

“There are so many things about Lake Zurich that people don't know,” she said.

It's those smaller moments that Flynn tried to capture in her book as Lake Zurich evolved from just a few settlers, to a resort destination, to today.

“As the town grew, it really became a summer resort destination,” she said.

With cottages and hotels, Lake Zurich became a place to relax by the lake. Women and children would arrive during the week during summer months and their husbands would come up on the weekend, she said.

Not everything has changed so much. Flynn said the corner of Old Rand Road and Route 22 still looks similar after all these years, just a bit more modern.

Flynn noted that in many other towns, schools and roads are named after national heroes, but they bear the names of local heroes in Lake Zurich. Paulus Park was named for the former mayor and schools were named after local influential educators.

“It's a close-knit community, a lot of people were born and raised there, and they stayed there,” Flynn said. “So they pay respect to those who came before them.”

“Lake Zurich” will be available in early May 2011.

“Having grown up in the area, it was great to reconnect with the families I knew growing up,” Flynn said. “But I learned so much more than I ever knew before.”