Arlington Hts. stories: The Portable Village
“Yes, we’ll gather at the river, The beautiful, the beautiful river; Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God.”
The parishioners sang out and the piano crashed with great gusto as the Presbyterian Church paused in the middle of Dunton Street on a Sunday in 1912. At the conclusion of services, the venerable sanctuary hoisted its skirts and rumbled on down the road to its new location at Vine Street and Vail Avenue.
By this time village residents had become accustomed to looking out their windows and watching architecture roll past. “Moving Day” carried much greater portent in those times than simply moving your stuff from one abode to another. Landowners were not so quick with the wrecking ball and backhoe.
William Dunton started the trend in 1854 when his brand new frame house ended up straddling the surveyed mainline of the Illinois and Wisconsin Railroad he had worked so hard to bring through his namesake village. The two-story structure was moved again in 1905 to 112 Wing St., and then hop-scotched over to 705 E. Hintz Road in 1935 only to be eventually scrubbed out of existence in the 1970s.
In 1875, the village Catholics decided they didn’t need their little church any longer and loaded it onto a flat car for shipment to Des Plaines. But by 1902, they finally tired of commuting back and forth to Des Plaines or Buffalo Grove for Mass and church services, and Father John Linden volunteered to visit on Saturday nights on the second floor of Temperance Hall. Northwest Highway did not exist so he had a handcar hefted onto the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company rails and, pumping furiously, cassock rippling beneath his windbreaker, propelled himself down the track to bring the Catholic religion back to the village.
While many private homes could be seen signaling a left turn on Arlington Heights streets, the railroad and the religious community were the real checker-players in their day. The Elk Grove Methodists worshipping at Arlington Heights Road and Algonquin Road moved their flock twice in the late 1800s because of boisterous drunks in the nearby taverns. The Lutherans pried the Universalist church off its original foundation and resettled it on Chestnut Street and later rolled it down to 407 N. Vail.
As the railroad grew from a single track back in 1857 and expanded passenger service, the original long station with minimal commuter accommodations built across from the hotel found itself in the way of a second track. It was moved down to around Vail Avenue where it lasted as a freight shed until 1930 when it was scrapped. Today, we’re boarding trains out of our fourth depot.
A contributor to the research for this article had firsthand acquaintance with the phenomenon of peripatetic architecture. He had to call in to work one morning that he would be late coming in. It seems a house was blocking his driveway.
About the series:
As an incorporated village, Arlington Heights will be 125 years old on Jan. 18, 2012, and the village has already begun a yearlong celebration of that historic milestone. Throughout the anniversary year, local author and historian Gerry Souter will offer fascinating glimpses into the influences that shaped Arlington Heights into becoming the community we know today. Even if you are an Arlington Heights lifer, you’re going to learn something you didn’t know.
Monday, Dec. 19: The Road to Dunton
Today: Portable Village: A Movable Fest
Coming Jan. 26: Night Lights, Arlington Heights — 1887
About the author:
Gerry Souter is the author of 50 published books that include history, biography, young adult, fine arts, military and memoir. An international photojournalist, filmmaker, video producer and director and writer of numerous magazine and newspaper features, he settled into book authorship in 1997 and into exploring Arlington Heights’ rich historical legacy.
Gerry and Janet, his wife and co-author, have lived in Arlington Heights for almost 40 years and have written three books of village history. They edited and contributed to the award-winning Historical Society title, “Chronicle of a Prairie Town,” and wrote “Arlington Heights, Downtown Renaissance.” Their latest book, “A Brief History of Arlington Heights” for History Press is available through Barnes & Noble and the 125th Quasquicentennial.
This series of short stories is a result of much research and observation of the village Gerry calls home.