Lakemoor looking for bits of its history
The scraps of metal collected by Lakemoor resident John Guenther aren't valuable in the traditional sense, but have piqued his desire to learn what else is out there.
During the last few years, Guenther, a relatively new resident of the small village that straddles Lake and McHenry counties, has found the remnants of old farm tools and other debris while searching for meteorites around town. A fascination with the past has led him on a mission to start a historical society and form a group of treasure hunters to comb the area's fields, parks and beaches for clues to the past.
“It's in its infancy (and) that may be where it stays but I'm trying to get what I can while I can,” said Guenther, who also serves as the village's parks and recreation coordinator. “I'm looking for anything that may be of any historical value to Lakemoor.”
About 30,000 vehicles a day travel on Route 120 past Lily Lake, the village's signature feature and an early draw that brought vacationers and developers to town in the 1920s.
An advertisement from that era for summer homes by Chicago developer Sampson-Sex & Company noted the beauty of the lake and location only 34 miles from the city via the concrete Rand Road.
“Its natural attractiveness has been enhanced by dredging along its shores and the unique feature of creating additional canals, spanned by rustic bridges directly to the lake from among the bungalows,” the ad reads.
The company built a three-story home facing the lake as an office. The structure remains one of the oldest in town, and was occupied for 38 years by Le Vichyssois French restaurant until it closed in 2014.
The resort area with about 50 full-time residents was incorporated as Lily Lake about 1940, but dissolved shortly after. Lakemoor was named after an American steamer that was sunk by a German U-boat in 1917, according to Village Administrator David Alarcon. It was incorporated as a village in 1953, minus land to the west which remained unincorporated as Lilymoor.
The village has some old photos and maps, a typewritten history from the 1970s, newspaper clippings and assorted odds and ends, but the town history pretty much fits in a few boxes and drawers.
“That's why I'm reaching out to the people,” says Guenther. “Maybe they have that box in the attic they didn't know was there and is passed from generation to generation.”
Guenther has lived in Lakemoor 11 years, and in six years of searching, has unearthed one meteorite about the size of a golf ball. But with development planned to fill some of the old fields, he thinks it's time to see what else can be turned up.
“I'm hoping to get more volunteers. I have four metal detectors (and) I'm willing to share them with people to go out and find stuff,” he said.
A new municipal facility planned for next year was another reason Guenther decided to proceed. Anyone interested in the Lakemoor Historical Society or in joining a group to look for relics can visit www.lakemoorparks.net.
“I have the actual original incorporation paper we're going to frame,” Guenther said. “We're going to set up a display case in our new village hall to show what Lakemoor is and where it's going.”