“Suburban Profile: La Grange, Illinois” by S.M. O’Connor

La Grange, Illinois is an old railroad suburb of Chicago, like Lombard, which I profiled last week, but La Grange is much closer to Chicago than Lombard. It is a middle-ring suburb rather than an inner-ring suburb like Evanston and Oak Park or an outer-ring suburb like Lombard and Downers Grove. The first three settlers who received land grants in what is now La Grange signed by President Martin Van Buren were Joseph Vial, Thomas Covell, and Robert Leitch.[1] Vial built a log cabin on property that is now on Plainfield Road west of Wolf Road. Covell’s property is now Parkholm Cemetery.[2] Leitch built a cabin on property that is now the southeast corner of Ogden Avenue and Peck Avenue.[3] In 1870, Leitch sold some of his property to La Grange founder Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Sr. (1821-1900).[4] Unlike Lombard, which sprang around the intersection of two American Indian trails and evolved into a railroad suburb, La Grange was intentionally founded as a railroad suburb. It is located thirteen miles west of the Chicago Loop.

Born in Granby, Connecticut on September 19, 1821, Franklin D. Cossitt was a pro-Union cotton farm owner in Tennessee who lost practically everything in the Civil War. He moved to Chicago, where he opened a thriving grocery store by 1862.[5] According to the La Grange Area Historical Society, Cossitt’s became the largest grocery store in the city but he lost everything in the Great Fire of 1871.[6] Cossitt was married three times. His first wife was Lucretia Frances (“Fanny”) Malone, who died in 1854. Together, they had five children: Mary Elizabeth Cossitt Lyman (born in 1846), Richard Henry Cossitt (1848-1860), Fannie Malone Cossitt Lay (1849-1923), Margaret Booth Cossitt Shedd (1852-1923), and Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. (who tragically lived for only three weeks in 1854). In 1857, he wed Martha Louise Moore (1834-1863) in Macon, Tennessee. With her, he had a second son named after himself – Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. (1861-1911) – and two daughters: Elizabeth Warren Cossitt Mitchell (born in 1857) and Martha Louisa Cossitt De Witt (born in 1863). His third and final wife was Ada C. (“Addie”) Hunt of Chicago. He had a total of six children who lived to adulthood: son Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. and five daughters: Mrs. D.A. Lyman, Mrs. Charles Banks Shedd, Mrs. William C. De Witt, Mrs. H.S. Mitchell, and Mrs. Charles L. Lay. In 1870, F.D. Cossitt purchased a 600-acre parcel of land adjacent to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) that consisted of farmland and prairie that had not been cultivated.[7] To establish his idyllic suburb, Cossit planted hundreds of elm trees, restricted the sale of liquor, built large single-family houses, donated land for schools and churches, contributed to the construction of a railroad station, and laid out a street plan with large lots.[8] Cossitt sold the houses be built for between $2,000 and $8,000.[9] By 1890, La Grange had twenty-eight retailers.[10] The next year, Lyons Township High School had its first graduating class.[11] One of Cossitt’s sons-in-law, David Brainard Lyman, Jr., who had wed Cossitt’s daughter Mary, contributed funds for the construction of the second railroad station at Stone Avenue.[12] Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Sr., Martha Louise Moore Cossitt, and some other family members are buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.

The Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. who was the son of Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Sr. by his second wife, Martha Louise Moore Cossitt carried on the family name. Due to his mother’s death when he was a toddler, he was raised in Tennessee by a maternal aunt until the age of eight, at which time he re-joined his father in Chicago. He opened a general store in La Grange at the age of eighteen and sold it three years later, after which he attended a business college and joined his father’s real estate firm. Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. was elected Trustee of the Village of La Grange at least three times. In 1892, he was elected Highway Commissioner of Lyons Township and later served as Treasurer. He also sat on the Cook County Democratic Party Central Committee. On Wednesday, February 10, 1886, Franklin Dwight Cossitt, Jr. wed Margaret Amy Fox (1865-1964), daughter of Dr. George M. Fox. Together, Franklin & Margaret Cossitt had several children: Franklin Dwight Cossitt III; George Marshall Cossitt, Sr. (1890-1963);[13] Margaret Cossitt McDonald (1893-1946);[14] Marion Cossitt McDonald (1895-1979);[15] Harry Rene Cossitt (1897-1984);[16] and Frederick Henry Cossitt (born in 1899).

La Grange means The Barn[17] in French. As anyone familiar with the National Grange fraternal society might surmise, the word grange has a broader meaning in English.[18] Cossitt named the town in honor of a cotton farm he had owned in Tennessee before the Civil War.[19] According to the entries on La Grange by Sarah S. Marcus in The Encyclopedia of Chicago and Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide, the cotton farm, in turn, had been named in honor of “the ancestral home of Marquis de Lafayette.”[20] However, if Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier (1757-1834), Marquis de Lafayette, the French aristocrat and army officer who served as a major-general in the Continental Army during the American War of Independence, ever told an American the Château de Chavaniac was called la Grange he was either using a pet name or was being facetious.[21] Regardless, La Grange is a lovely little town that had an influx of rich and middle-class families after the Great Fire of 1871 destroyed much of Chicago.

To accommodate a growing population, La Grange annexed land to grow geographically.[22] Between 1900 and 1920, the population almost doubled from 3,969 to 6,525.[23] It climbed to 10,103 in 1930, before General Motors and the Aluminum Company of America built plants in town in the 1930s and ‘40s.[24] La Grange’s population peaked at over 17,800 in 1970 and fell to 15,285 in 1960. Zoning laws that restricted the constriction of multi-family homes did not permit for high population density.[25] The population remained fairly stable in the last forty years of the 20^th Century, as the population rose to 15,362 in 1970, and 15,608 by 2000.[26]

Famous former residents include Brigadier General Richard H. Jeschke (1894-1957) of the U.S. Marine Corps who fought at Guadalcanal, the Invasion of Sicily, and the Invasion of Normandy during World War II; Nobel Prize in Physics-winning Danish-American nuclear physicist Benjamin R. Mottelson; multi-billionaire toy manufacturer and hotelier Ty Warner, economist Patrick Chovanec, an expert on the economy of China and former advisor to Republican elected officials; actor David Hasselhoff (Knight Rider, Baywatch); and businessman, author, and philanthropist Quinton Studer. Leona Harriet Woods (1919-1986), who was born on a farm her parents owned in La Grange, was one of only a handful of women scientists involved in the Manhattan Project and was the only woman in Enrico Fermi’s group who built the Chicago Pile-1 nuclear reactor under the stands of The University of Chicago’s Stagg Field who was present on December 2, 1942 when Chicago Pile-1 went critical.[27]

The Park District of La Grange has the 6-acre Gilbert Park, the .5-acre Stone Park, the 2-acre Elm Park, the 17-acre Gordon Park, the .3-acre Rotary Centennial Park, the 1-acre Community Center & Park, the 3.5-acre Waiola Park, the .85-acre Spring Avenue Park, the 25-acre Sedgewick Park, and the 10-acre Denning Park. It also has other facilities. The Recreation Center at 536 East Avenue is north of Sedgewick Park, The Recreation Center has an indoor playground, a walking track, three full-sized basketball courts, a dance/aerobic studio, a banquet room, and rental rooms. It is a Chicago White Sox Satellite Training Facility. The 8-acre Spring/Gurrie School has two softball fields and three tennis courts. It is adjacent to the William F. Gurrie Middle School.

Lyons Township High School North Campus is located next to Elm Park. The AMITA Health Adventist Medical Center La Grange occupies the southwest corner of La Grange. This is an acute-care hospital, a 196-licensed bed facility that has received five stars from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

There is a difference between a town as a place where people live and a city as a body politic with boundaries where the municipal government’s powers end and the La Grange Country Club, which is rectangular shape, is outside the boundaries of La Grange. La Grange surrounds the La Grange Country Club on roughly three and four-fifths sides. The La Grange Country Club has an eighteen-hole golf course and two outdoor tennis courts. The unincorporated community of La Grange Highlands is south of La Grange. La Grange is south of Westchester, La Grange Park, and the Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s Salt Creek Woods; southwest of Brookfield and Brookfield Zoo, and, thus, Riverside, North Riverside, Berwyn, and Oak Park; west of Lyons and McCook; north of Countryside, the Cook County Forest Preserve District’s Theodore Stone Forest Preserve, and, thus, the Des Plaines River; and northeast of Burr Ridge, Indian Head Park, and Willowbrook; east of Western Springs, and, thus, Hinsdale; and southeast of Oak Brook.

La Grange has two Metra stops on the B.N.S.F. line: LaGrange Road and Stone Avenue. Downtown La Grange radiates out from the LaGrange Road Metra Station on La Grange Road. [Note that La Grange Road is also North U.S. Route 45, West U.S. Route 12, and West U.S. Route 20.] Lucca Pizzaria & Ristorante and Café Calbay are on the south side of Burlington Avenue, west of La Grange Road. The main street (or high street as they would have it in the U.K.) is La Grange Road from Ogden Avenue to the north and Cossitt Avenue to the south. On La Grange Road, south of the LaGrange Road Metra station and Burlington Avenue, one will find Anderson’s Bookshop, Nicksons Eatery, and Casa Margarita on the west side of the street, and Chimera’s Comics, La Grange Hobby Center, Owl & Lark Juice & Coffee Bar, and Blueberry Hill Breakfast Café. Anderson’s Bookshop is an independent bookshop with three bookshops in Naperville, Downers Grove, La Grange, as well as a toy shop in Naperville. The address of Anderson’s Bookshop La Grange is 26 South La Grange Road. Nicksons Eatery is a Michelin Recommended Restaurant that serves regional dishes from across the U.S.A. The address is 30 South La Grange Road. Casa Margarita is an upscale Mexican restaurant. The address is 32 South La Grange Road. Around the corner, Arcely’s Bakery makes cakes, cupcakes, artisanal breads, sandwiches, and tamales. The address is 15 West Harris Avenue. Tate’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream is located at 25 South Ashland Avenue. Chimera’s Comics sells comic books, graphic novels, and pop culture memorabilia. It also a location in Oak Lawn and formerly had a location in Woodridge. The address is 19 South La Grange Road. Blueberry Hill Breakfast Café is a family-friendly place to get breakfast or lunch and was named one of the ten best breakfast restaurants by the Chicago Tribune. They have seven restaurants and one catering facility. Blueberry Hill Breakfast Café is located at the northeast corner of La Grange Road and Harris Avenue. The address is 49 South La Grange Road.

On La Grange Road, south of Harris Avenue, one will find the La Grange Village Hall, and the First Congregational Church on the east side of the street and Cheesie’s Pub & Grub, Whisper Me Home, Horton’s Home Lighting and Horton’s Ace Hardware, the Q-BBQ restaurant, the La Grange Theater, Wild Monk Bar, and the La Grange Public Library on the west side of the street. There is a three-story free parking garage behind the La Grange Village Hall. Whisper Me Home is a charming shop that sells new and second-hand gifts and décor. The address is 48 South La Grange Road. Recently, the Cheesie’s Pub & Grub opened next door to Whisper Me Home. This popular eatery specializes in gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. The address is 46 South La Grange Road. C.E.O. Chris Johnston opened the first location in Lakeview (Community Area #6) on the North Side of Chicago on Sunday, May 8, 2011. Q-BBQ slow cooks meats for up to twenty-two hours. This is the first Q-BBQ location. The address is 70 South La Grange Road. Owners are Michael LaPidus, John Rot, and Dan Chopp now have four locations. Q-BBQ won the 2015 and 2016 People’s Choice awards at Chicago’s Rib Fest, as well as Michelin Guide awards. In the parking lot behind Q-BBQ, LaPidus, Rot, and Chopp opened The Hotdog & Burger Company, which makes gourmet hotdogs, burgers, and grilled cheese sandwiches, and is another great place to grab lunch or dinner. The address is 76 South La Grange Road. The La Grange Theatre is at the northwest corner of La Grange Road and Cossitt Avenue. It is a second-run theater that was built as a theater in 1925 and was converted into a cinema in the 1940s. In 1984, it became a two-screen theater. Four years later, in 1988, it became a three-screen theater, and ten years later, in 1994, it became a four-screen theater. The address is 80 South La Grange Road.

In 2009, Chicago Magazine voted La Grange the Best Downtown. “Lots of little suburban downtowns have filled up with appealing restaurants and stylish boutiques. But In La Grange, something unusual has happened. While many hot newcomers have sprouted in the six-square block center, some tried-and-true old-timers like the hardware store, art league and the camera shops have stuck around, too. The 6^th Avenue Parking Deck on Thursdays is the site of a good farmers’ market. It all feels like a Mayberry for the 21^st Century – and around here, the police officers patrol the streets on Segways.”

The southern end of the downtown terminates with the La Grange Public Library on the southwest corner of La Grange Road and Cossitt Avenue and First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ at the southeast corner of La Grange Road and Cossitt Avenue. South of the library and the pretty stone church, La Grange Road is a residential street lined by large, picturesque residences until 47^th Street. One of these houses is now the La Grange Area Historical Society, at the northwest corner of La Grange Road and 47^th Street. The address is 444 South La Grange Road, La Grange, Illinois 60525. Founded in 1972, the La Grange Area Historical Society acquired the Vial House in the 1980s. It was built in 1874 by the aforementioned Samuel Vial. He had decided to retire from farming, and built the house at Fifth Avenue (now La Grange Road) and 47^th Street, having received a land grant in 1834 from President Martin Van Buren. The La Grange Area Historical Society is an all-volunteer, 501(c)3 organization that raises funds through membership dues, donations, and through its museum gift shop. It collects documents, artifacts, and memorabilia related to the history of La Grange and La Grange Park.

In 1979, the Village of La Grange Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Village of La Grange Historic District is comprised of two parts. The smaller part is north of the B.N.S.F. tracks and the much larger part is south of the tracks and Burlington Avenue.

The southern boundary of the northern part is a diagonal line formed by the north side of Hillgrove Avenue.[28] The western boundary of the northern part has three parts. On a map, it resembles a bookcase. The first part runs north along the west side of Stone Avenue from Hillgrove Avenue to the south to Bell Avenue. It then runs eastward from Stone Avenue to Waiola Avenue. The western boundary then runs northward on the west side of Waiola Avenue to Ogden Avenue. It then runs eastward, along the north side of Ogden Avenue to Catherine Avenue. [St. Francis Xavier Parish Church at Ogden Avenue and Spring Avenue is inside this part of the district and Grace Lutheran Church at Ogden Avenue and Catherine Avenue is just outside the district.] The western boundary then runs northward from Ogden Avenue along the west side of Catherine Avenue to Brewster Avenue. The northern boundary runs along the north side of Brewster Avenue to Madison Avenue. Please note that many buildings on the west side of Stone Avenue and the west side of Waiola Avenue appear to be just outside the western boundary of the district. The same is true to many buildings on the north side of Brewster Avenue. The eastern boundary of the district runs along the east side of Madison Avenue. In this case, buildings standing along the east side of Madison Avenue are inside the district, but there are five buildings that appear to extend outside the boundary of the district, as if portions of these buildings are not part of the district.

The southern boundary of the southern part is 47^th Street from 8^th Avenue to the east and Brainard Avenue to the west. The western boundary is Brainard Avenue from 47^th Street to the south to Cossitt Avenue to the north. Lyons Township High School North Campus is just outside the district. The northern boundary is Cossitt Avenue from Brainard Avenue to the west to Kensington Avenue to the east. Then it turns northward along the west side of Kensington Avenue to Harris Avenue. It then runs eastward on the north side of Harris Avenue to Ashland Avenue. From there, the boundary runs southward along the east side of Ashland Avenue to Cossitt Avenue, where it turns eastward along the north side of Cossitt Avenue to 6^th Avenue. It then runs along the west side of 6^th Avenue to Burlington Avenue and runs along the south side of Burlington Avenue to Buffalo Avenue. The eastern boundary runs diagonally along the west side of Buffalo Avenue from Burlington Avenue to the north to Cossitt Avenue to the south. From there, it runs straight down the east side of 8^th Avenue to 47^th Street. Note that, as with the northern part of the district, many buildings are excluded from the western and northern boundaries of the southern part. However, it appears that the buildings on the east side of 8^th Avenue are within the eastern boundary of the district. The downtown businesses, including those I profiled, are outside the district, but the La Grange Public Library and First Congregational Church are inside the district.

In October of 2015, La Grange Village Board President Tom Livingston presided over a celebration to mark completion of Stone Avenue Metra station renovations.[29] This 900-square-foot Romanesque-style building was built in 1901 with locally-quarried limestone.[30] The $1,085,000 project was largely funded with two grants: a $700,000 grant secured by Congressman Dan Lipinski and a $385,000 grant from the West Suburban Mass Transit District.[31] Boller Construction of Waukegan received the contract in 2013.[32] Legat Architects consulted the La Grange Area Historical Society, which was able to locate the original 1901 designs.[33] The La Grange Garden Club and Hitchcock Design Group designed the new landscaping. [34]

Figure 1 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the La Grange Village Hall, as seen from the west side of La Grange Road on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Figure 2 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: These are the front steps (and surrounding landscape) of the La Grange Village Hall, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Figure 3 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the plaza in front of the entrance to the parking garage that stretches out behind the La Grange Village Hall, as seen from the west side of La Grange Road on Saturday, September 11, 2010. The plaza is beside the La Grange Village Hall.

Figure 4 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This fountain is in the plaza in front of the parking garage that stretches out behind the La Grange Village Hall, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010. This places the plaza beside the La Grange Village Hall.

Figure 5 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the west side of La Grange Road in downtown La Grange, Illinois. Toscana’s Grill, seen here on Saturday, September 11, 2010, stood at 88 South La Grange, next door to the La Grange Theater. This site is now occupied by Wild Monk Bar.

Figure 6 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the marquee of the La Grange Theater, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Figure 7 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the east face of the La Grange Public Library, on the west face of La Grange Road, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010. It at the southwest corner of La Grange Road and Cossitt Avenue, at the south end of downtown La Grange and within the northern boundary of the southern part of the Village of La Grange Historic District.

Figure 8 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This sign, can be seen in profile the picture above, stands in front of the La Grange Public Library and marks the beginning of the Village of La Grange Historic District.

Figure 9 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: Ornamental lamp-posts line La Grange Road from Ogden Avenue to the north to 47^th Street to the south.

Figure 10 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: The First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, which stands at the southeastern corner of La Grange Road and Cossitt Avenue. This is the east face of the building, on La Grange Road, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010.

Figure 11 Credit: S.M. O’Connor Caption: This is the north face of First Congregational Church, as seen on Saturday, September 11, 2010. First Conservatory of La Grange, which evolved from an outreach program of the music department of First Congregational Church, now has ten teaching studios and four recital spaces.

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ENDNOTES

[1] La Grange Area Historical Society, “Early History of La Grange,” (http://www.lagrangehistory.org/history/early-history-of-la-grange/) Accessed 02/23/18

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] La Grange Area Historical Society “Early La Grange History,” (http://www.lagrangehistory.org/early_lg_history.htm) Accessed 02/24/18

[6] Ibid

[7] Sarah S. Marcus, “La Grange, IL” in Chicago Neighborhoods and Suburbs: A Historical Guide. Edited by Ann Durkin Keating. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press (2008), p. 185

[8] Marcus, p. 185

See also La Grange Area Historical Society “Early La Grange History,” (http://www.lagrangehistory.org/early_lg_history.htm) Accessed 02/24/18

[9] La Grange Area Historical Society “Early La Grange History,” (http://www.lagrangehistory.org/early_lg_history.htm) Accessed 02/24/18

[10] La Grange Area Historical Society “Early La Grange History,” (http://www.lagrangehistory.org/early_lg_history.htm) Accessed 02/24/18

[11] Ibid

[12] Ibid

[13] George Marshall Cossitt, Sr. wed Madeline Tiffany (1893-1971). Together, they divided their time between La Grange and Tucson and had at least two children: George M. Cossitt, Jr. (1917-1983) and Renee Tiffany Cossitt. George M. Cossitt, Jr., who fought in the Second Great World War, wed Mary Lois at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Tucson in 1947 and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona in Phoenix. He was best man at his sister’s wedding and their father gave away the bride when Renee Tiffany Cossitt wed Charles N. Neubauer of Saratoga Springs, New York at Saints Peter & Paul Church in 1948.

[14] Margaret Cossitt wed William Lally McDonald (1893-1973) and they had at least three children.

[15] Marion Cossitt wed Harry Holland McDonald, Sr. (1890-1963). Together, they had Harry Holland McDonald, Jr. (1925-2000) and at least one other child.

[16] Harry Rene Cossitt wed Virginia Eliza Van Court (1902-1984). Together, they had Franklin Dwight Cossitt IV and other children.

[17] Marcus, p. 185

[18] Founded in 1867, the formal name of the National Grange, also known as The Grange, is The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Animal Husbandry. A National Grange hall is sometimes called a grange.

[19] Marcus, p. 185

[20] Marcus, p. 185

[21] In Great Britain, a grange is a large, arable farm with the residence of a gentleman-farmer and associated buildings. In feudal Europe, a grange was a granary that stored grain paid to the Church in tithes. The Middle English word grange is derived from the Old French word grange derived from the Medieval Latin word grānica derived from the Latin word grãnum for grain. Historically, in Catholic England, a monastic grange was a farm owned by an abbey, monastery, convent, or priory. [In Catholic Europe, beggars as well as pilgrims were able to walk from monastery to monastery and receive food and shelter for one day.] The best-documented English monastic granges were owned by the Cistercian monasteries in Yorkshire. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, aristocrats and gentlemen purchased monastic properties from the Crown. Many properties and villages retained references to their former ecclesiastical associations in their place names.

[22] Marcus, pages 185 and 186

[23] Sarah S. Marcus, La Grange, IL” in The Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Edited by Ann Durkin Keating. © The Newberry Library © 2005 Chicago Historical Society. (http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/699.html) Accessed 02/23/18