HR0951 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0951 LRB097 20773 KXB 67370 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the people of Wadsworth on the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the Village; and

WHEREAS, The Wadsworth area was not settled as early as many other communities in Lake County; it was not until the mid-1840s that people followed the upper reaches of the Des Plaines River to the area's great oak groves and meadows; and

WHEREAS, In 1873, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad completed the construction of a line between Milwaukee and Chicago which ran along the east bank of the Des Plaines River; hoping to increase his land's value, local farmer John Lux platted a village site in 1874; the "Milwaukee Road" accepted the plat as a station stop, naming it Wadsworth after Elisha Wadsworth, a major Milwaukee Road stockholder; and

WHEREAS, A post office opened in Wadsworth in 1874, but the station was primarily used as a milk collection point for the area's numerous large dairy farms for Chicago delivery; because of the large amount of clay found in the area, 2 drainage tile factories and a brick factory came into operation near the station by 1886; and

WHEREAS, Since much undeveloped land still remained around Wadsworth in 1958, Tempel Smith, owner of Tempel Steel Company of Chicago, decided to purchase 5,000 acres next to the original village for Tempel Farms, home to a troupe of noted Lipizzan horses; and

WHEREAS, In 1962, most residents feared the annexation of the land surrounding Wadsworth, including Tempel Farms, into an aggressively expanding Waukegan; Wadsworth's residents voted to incorporate their village and elected Albert Heiser the first village president that same year; and

WHEREAS, The Village of Wadsworth will celebrate incorporation with a 50th Anniversary Community Celebration from August 17-19, 2012; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the people of Wadsworth and wish them the best for the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Village President Glenn Ryback as a symbol of our respect and esteem.