Homes and cottages dot the shores of Fox Lake.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
Even before it was incorporated in 1907, Fox Lake was a party town. Since the 1800s, city dwellers had been flocking to the Chain O' Lakes for the resort life and for the popular Egyptian Lotus beds on Fox Lake, reachable only by excursion boat.
Back then, Fox Lake, the "Heart of the Chain O' Lakes" - it fronts on Fox, Pistakee and Nippersink lakes - enjoyed the greatest tourist trade, where the summer population would soar to around 20,000 people and at its peak the area had 50 hotels and 2,000 cottages.
It wasn't just the water, fresh air and lotus that brought them.
The region became a notorious hangout for Prohibition era gangsters, and shortly after midnight on June 1, 1930, the violence reached its zenith at the Manning Hotel on Pistakee Lake. Members of George "Bugs" Moran's gang gunned down mobsters from the Al Capone and the Druggan-Lake gangs in what was later called the Fox Lake Massacre - likely caused by a dispute over control over beer distribution in the Chain.
Fox Lake's transformation from resort town to year-round residential village began during the Depression. It got a boost when Rand Road was paved after World War II, and because soldiers returning from the war found the village affordable, and began upgrading the summer cabins into permanent housing.
By 2010, Fox Lake was home to 10,579 people, solidifying it as much more than just a resort community but a place where people take root and raise their families.
Look for a new "Icons of ..." town gallery every Sunday at dailyherald.com/galleries and on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. On our social media sites, share your favorite Fox Lake photos with us by using #shareyoursuburb.
And tell us what photos are your favorites. Which ones stir a memory for you? Where do you love to go in town?
The Fox Lake water tower rises up behind some old buildings in downtown.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
The quaint downtown on East Grand Avenue.
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The end of the line - Fox Lake is the final Metra station on the Milwaukee District North Line.
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Metra trains wait in the Fox Lake yard for their next trips toward downtown Chicago.
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Grant Community High School, 285 E. Grand Ave., was opened in 1930 but the school has been added onto many times since then.
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Paul G. Lewis Field, where the Grant Community High School Bulldogs battle in the North Suburban Prairie Conference.
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The GCHS Bulldog mascot, Spike, welcomes students and the community alike.
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Fox Lake has one of the more architecturally interesting suburban village halls, at 66 Thillen Drive.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
Now one of the 10 most endangered historic places in Illinois, according to landmarks Illinois, the grand old Mineola Hotel has been a beacon facing Mineola Bay and Fox Lake since it became a hotel in 1891. Today it is condemned and the owner is trying to sell it.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
The Mineola Hotel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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The Fox Lake District Library, 255 E. Grand Ave., is the latest library, opened in 2010. The library was born in 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project with the Village of Fox Lake and the Fox Lake Woman's Club as co-sponsors.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
A memorial bench in downtown Fox Lake.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
The chamber of commerce sign on Oak Street, right off Rand Road.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
The welcome sign at Fox Lake's northern border, for southbound Rand Road traffic.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
St. Bede Catholic Church and school, 36455 N. Wilson Road, at Route 59 in Ingleside. The present-day brick church opened in 1941, but the parish was formed in 1928, when Cardinal Mundelein divided St. Peter's parish in Antioch into two.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
The Fox Lake Post Office, at 33 E. Grand Ave.
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The famous Dockers Restaurant, 33 W. Grand Ave., on the shore of Pistakee Lake.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.comFrom Oak Street, a look back into downtown Fox Lake.
The sun glints off Nippersink Lake, from Lakeshore Park on Nippersink Boulevard.
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The Lakeshore Park building on Nippersink Boulevard, home to a lot of activities.
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Good luck on those tests, kids!
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Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.comA look at the peninsula jutting out into Nippersink Lake.
Fox Lake American Legion Post 703.
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It may be the blah time of winter, but there's always something going on in Fox Lake, as the downtown community events sign shows.
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A memorial bench facing Pistakee Lake.
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Only one way to go on the Fox Lake Metra line.
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Here's a place that must have a few stories. The Blueberry Hill Bar & Grill, 115 Nippersink Blvd.
Renee Trappe/rtrappe@dailyherald.com