The Cemetery Tour
There is a place in every community that possesses the heart and soul, the tragedy, the heroics and the history of that community. The cemetery. The cemetery is also the most peaceful place in the community....

Citizens for Conservation
Early reports from Lake County show that there were plenty of varieties of animals present until late in the 1800s. Lake Zurich was home to Virginia deer, timber wolves, Canada lynx, wildcats, foxes, raccoons, skunks, minks, muskrats, weasels, woodchuck, and coyote. All these animals existed in the prairie and in the groves of trees that dotted the countryside....

Down & Dirty
There is something about spring flowers that lets us know the wait for warmer temperatures and longer days is almost over. Those first bursts of color prepare us for the transformation of the landscape from a barren winter scene to that of a lush, prairie grassland....

Farman's
Have you ever noticed how some business locations seem to fare well for certain owners and poorly for others? In Lake Zurich this holds true for the property on the corner of Lakeview Place and Main Street on the east side of the lake....

A Garden of Remedies
Imagine if you were moving somewhere new. You could only pack what you could fit into one minivan and once you got to your destination, there would be no grocery stores or drug stores nearby. You would probably find that your garden would become a useful alternative supplier for your medicinal and culinary needs....

The Gypsy Way
In childhood, Gypsy folklore abounds. There are great stories about the wild Gypsy ways, and tall tales about selling naughty children to the Gypsies. In Lake Zurich, these tales had an element of truth. There was a time when Lake Zurich's south side was a stopping point for Gypsies on their summer journey to Wisconsin....

How the Schools have Grown
James Watson, the first superintendent of Lake Zurich consolidated School District 95 once stated, "Put a good teacher in a tent and there will be education...."

An Interview with the Undertaker
My Grandfather always felt that a good man should have a proper burial....

The Lake Zurich Fire Department & Their Shiny Red Trucks
Ask any small boy what he wants to be when he grows up, and 90 percent of them will answer, a fireman. Why? Because they love those big red trucks....

Lake Zurich Haunts
Rumor and speculation abound in the world of favorite haunts. Are there haunted houses in Lake Zurich? You be the judge....

From Lake Zurich to Kansas
Francis Parkman, a 19th century historian, summarized Indian treatment when he said, "Spanish civilization crushed the Indian; English civilization scorned and neglected him; French civilization embraced and cherished him...."

The Land Before the Pioneers
In Lake Zurich, there exists a group of environmentalists whose goal is to return the land to somewhere close to its Pristine state before the settlers came, with their buckthorn and garlic mustard and their cultivated wheat. When Illinois became a state in 1818, it was known for its fertile land and Oak groves. Today's landscape is vastly different from the land that was here when the Indians managed the soil. In the 1700s, it was said that a gray squirrel could travel from the Atlantic coast west 1000 miles across the trees without touching the ground. While no one knew of the land that extended beyond Ohio, there were many rumors about the expanses of prairie and open sky dotted with wooded groves of oaks....

Legends
Every community has its legends, and there is one legend told to me by a few longtime community members. The current site of the Marathon Gas Station was originally the location of Seth Paine's House, which he donated for use as a meeting hall. The building was used variously as a school, church, lodge hall, and newspaper offices, before becoming a farmhouse. In 1907, the Young family purchased the property and opened the Maple Leaf Hotel. This legend is about the large Horse Chestnut tree in front of the hotel....

Life on the Farm
Lake Zurich resident, Marvin Kruckenberg, is the remains of a bygone era. Kruckenberg runs the last operating, family-owned farm in Lake Zurich. His family has been farming for over 100 years, and while in those years, observing the face of farming change dramatically....

The Lure of the Railroad
When Henry David Thoreau spoke of the railroad in 1854 he said, "We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us." Never were these words more true than in the creation of the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda railroad (PLZ&W)....

Notable Teachers
Teachers have the power to mold, inspire and shape our youngsters. We are the products of yesterdays teachers. For the teachers in the one-room school houses that surrounded the Lake Zurich area, the teaching profession was challenging. Being a teacher was also a good career for young women, before marriage....

The No-tell Motel
It is hard to imagine, in this day of shopping centers and family centered developments, that Lake Zurich was once a popular resort destination for travelers. Around the turn of the last century and well into the 1930s, hotels and boarding houses abounded....

Notorious Legends of the Past
Every community has their notorious members of the past and Ela township is no exception. One such character from the past was Terry Druggen, who lived on Long Grove Road, off of Rand Road, from the early 1930s through the early 1950s....

"Rail" Time Memories
There are still a few residents of Lake Zurich who remember the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Wauconda Railroad. Irene Landsinger remembers riding the train often to visit her grandmother in Wauconda, or to go to the doctor in Palatine. After 86 years, many of her memories inspire giggles. She and her friend were often the only ones in the cab! The times that she rode were thankfully not the times that the passengers had to push the train, but there were many family jokes about the Palatine, Lake Zurich and Walk Railroad....

The Search for Artifacts
The first settler arrived in the Lake Zurich area some one hundred sixty years ago. He found a strong presence of Indians long-settled on the lands around the lake. Artifacts like arrowheads and pottery were cropping up in newly created fields with great frequency. There is strong evidence that Native Americans have existed here for thousands of years, though most of the archaeological remains have disappeared....

Summertime Joys
"Summertime, when the living is easy...."

Thanksgiving Traditions Past and Present
Thanksgiving has always been celebrated as an occasion for giving thanks. The tradition of gathering family and friends has not changed greatly for the last 150 years. Interestingly, the traditional feast has varied slightly over the decades - not surprising in earlier years when locally convenient food meant taking a musket for a walk....

Tracing the Underground Railroad in Lake Zurich
In 1941, Earl Young, a junior in High School was running a filling station at 16 W. Main Street in Lake Zurich, when he fell through the floor into a dirt chamber which measured about 20 feet in length. The station was located on the site of Seth Paine's Stable of Humanity, and Earl's grandparents said that the room was part of the Underground Railroad....

A Trip Around the Lake with Marine Patrol
Society today demands that each community has its own law enforcement team....

What Has Your Township Done for You Lately?
The township form of government, modeled after the New England town meeting, was established in the United States after 1785, when federal legislation authorized states to create 36-mile square township rectangles. In Lake County, Ela Township was established in 1835 with Lake Zurich as its principal settlement....