Incorporation celebration: Happy 120th, Northbrook!
It was a big decision for a tiny town.
In 1901, the residents of Shermerville (population just above 300) were confronted with this question: Should the village incorporate?
Though the vote total may not have shown it, the result would be important. Also, there were two opposing sides to the issue. But in the end, Shermerville's citizens chose to incorporate.
The Circuit Court of Cook County affirmed the decision on Nov. 18, 1901 - meaning that on Nov. 18, 2021, it's "Happy 120th Birthday Northbrook!"
The choice to incorporate was made a long time ago, but it remains a local history milestone that includes some interesting sidelights. The first involves the vote itself. When the vote for incorporation was held on Nov. 16, 1901, there were 35 votes for yes, 32 for no, and two spoiled ballots - meaning only 69 votes were cast, and the referendum passed by just three!
Though the vote total seems amazingly low, remember that only men could participate in such an election in 1901.
According to "Northbrook, Illinois: The Fabric of Our History," there also was a stipulation that in order to hold a referendum for incorporation, a population of 300 residents (including men, women and children) had to live in an area not exceeding two square miles. The area of homes for brickworkers along Wheeling (Dundee) Road, called Bachtown, was included to meet the 300 residents requirement. How many eligible male voters there were in the two-square-mile area is unknown.
The two differing views regarding incorporation involved the issue of civic improvements - specifically, sidewalks in the downtown area. From "The Fabric of Our History": "Opposition to incorporation was substantial, particularly among saloon keepers, because of the threat of higher taxes."
Not surprisingly, other Shermerville business owners favored sidewalks instead of the "dirty planks that ringed the business district." As Edward D. Landwehr, one of several business owners who pushed for incorporation, wrote in his memoirs: "To get to the school by this time had become a difficult mud hike much of the time, and a subject of indignation ... Narrow boards and cinders was no solution for safe and convenient pedestrian travel. If the town was incorporated under the state laws this situation could be remedied by ordinance providing for uniform serviceable sidewalks."
(The school Landwehr referred to would have been the one-room, frame Sherman School on Timber (Waukegan) Road. It eventually became the four-room, brick Shermerville School, then the larger Northbrook School [and Northbrook High School], and later Crestwood School. After closing in 1979, the building was repurposed for senior living and reopened as Crestwood Place in 1985.)
On Dec. 16, 1901 - exactly one month after the incorporation referendum - the first election of Village officials took place. Louis Voltz was chosen as president, and trustees were Henry Williams, John Ward, Henry Bestor, Reinhart Blank, Peter Bellert, and Norman Carstensen. George W. Smith was elected Village Clerk. There had been a three-way tie for one of the trustee positions, and Blank won after drawing lots with George A. Kiest, and H.P. Mentzer.
As recorded in "The Fabric of Our History," the first Shermerville Village Board meeting was held on Dec. 23, 1901, in Lorenz Hall located above the downtown Lorenz repair shop. On Jan. 6, 1902, Herman Lorenz was appointed treasurer, and Gust Fisher was named marshal "providing he served without compensation. He was the only law enforcement officer."
As for the apparent major issue leading to the incorporation referendum: The office of Street Commissioner was created in July 1902, but cinders continued to be spread on most sidewalks for several more years. It apparently was not until 1906 that some cement sidewalks began to appear near the downtown area. By 1910, when the town's population had inched upward to 434, most of the sidewalks in the main shopping area were said to be concrete.
• We're putting together a list of 120 things we love about Northbrook to celebrate its 120th anniversary, and we'd love your input! Let us know by Monday, Nov. 22, what you think is great about your village: email mshamie@dailyherald.com and include "Northbrook anniversary" in the subject line.