As Itasca turns 125, historian looks at how dairy industry shaped town

Cows were once an integral part of the landscape in Itasca not so long ago.

“I remember the cows. The cows were still around,” said Jerry Danzer, who moved to town in 1962. “We lived here 10 years before Itasca had a stoplight.”

Danzer, professor emeritus in the history department at University of Illinois at Chicago and a village historian, will take visitors to Itasca's 125th anniversary celebration back even further in time to the village's founding. Itasca was incorporated in 1890, decades after the first settlers arrived in the 1840s.

On Sunday, Aug. 30, when the village throws itself a 125th birthday party, Danzer will give two presentations. One will be geared to all ages; the second will be aimed at adults, he said.

“I thought of doing the history of milk,” Danzer said.

Dairy wasn't the first major sector of agriculture to put Itasca on the map, though.

“It started out that the farmers' cash crop originally was wheat,” he said. Economic forces changed that and wheat was supplanted by dairy.

“Itasca had one of the first cheese factories in the state. It was here before the railroad and before Itasca had a name,” Danzer said.

Later, milk produced on Itasca dairy farms found its way to the Borden processing plant in Elgin, where it became condensed milk bound for U.S. military forces stationed hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

“It shows how important Itasca is in the global picture,” Danzer said.

Early 20th century advertising campaigns, Danzer said, invariably portrayed milk as a pleasant bit of the countryside widely available in the city.

“That lays the foundation for Itasca as a suburban community,” Danzer said. “The development of the suburban ideal overlaps with the dairy industry.”

Itasca's 125th anniversary celebration will be from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30, at the Itasca Historical Depot Museum, 101 Catalpa Ave., Itasca.

“It's going to be a family-oriented community fair kind of thing,” said Dan Corcoran, the village's information technology and communications director.

Admission is free, as are tickets for raffles held every half-hour starting at 12:30 p.m., Corcoran said.

The village has paid tribute to its 125th anniversary throughout the year with giveaways and prizes, he said.

The party will include cupcakes, popcorn, cotton candy, face painting and balloon twisting along with train rides for children and free admission to the Itasca Water Park after noon for Itasca village and park district residents, he said.

Danzer said his research into Itasca's history has added dimension to his view of the town.

“Looking out my window at the gazebo, the veterans memorial in Usher Park, I can see where the first cheese factory was,” Danzer said. “There are a lot of layers of Itasca right in front of me.”

If you go

What: Itasca's 125th anniversary celebration

When: Noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 30

Where: Itasca Historical Depot Museum, 101 Catalpa Ave., Itasca

Cost: Free

Info: itasca.com and itascaparkdistrict.com