by Barbara Benson

In the Winter 2008 Newsletter, I had resurrected the fact that North Barrington Elementary School, before construction of the first building in 1947, was referred to as Indian Lake School.  This derived from the fact that the present-day lake at Lake Barrington Shores across the road was first called Indian Lake and was a man-made entity.

 

My follow-up tells the story of the lake’s evolution as it was unearthed by the late Andre (Dusty) Rhoads through conversations in 1985 with Leroy Miller and Charles Davlin.  Davlin, grandson of a pioneer settler in the area, worked as a youngster on the Emil Miller (no relation to Leroy) farm, which covered land from Route 59, west on Miller Road (named for the family), north along the present day western edge of LBS, back across to approximately 500 yards south of the Kelsey Road intersection and south along 59 to Miller. 

 

Charlie recalled that working around the Miller homestead he noticed that there was a natural basin in the center of the farm, and he speculated that it might hold water.  So he got permission from the Millers to cut some brush, mostly willows, which he piled with slough hay and dirt at the north end of the property near what is now the LBS overflow dam.  He was proven right, and soon a small lake formed about five feet in depth, fed entirely from a creek flowing in from a pond that Charlie had dug near the main entrance to LBS.

 

Since there are no springs in the lake, nobody thought this new body of water would make it, but a 2-inch rainfall one year, and the continuous, but often meager flow of water from the creek, established the lake.  This was in the early 1920s, because until 1925,  no lake appeared on early plat maps.  Indian Lake was  first mapped in that year.

 

Later, the Miller homestead was sold to G. C. Criswell of the Criswell Candy Company who added some more parcels to the farm, the property becoming his country estate.  He hired a cement contractor to raise the level of the dam by five feet, and planted some 7,000 elm trees, and hundreds of spruce and pine.  According to Leroy Miller (who still worked at LBS at the time of Dusty Rhoads’ article,) the oaks were natural, and Charlie said that some of them were as much as 150 years old.

 

It was Criswell who built the stone house that stood until recent years near the Miller Road entrance, with a commanding view of the lake.  When the addition was made to the dam, Criswell also built an 18-foot concrete retaining wall behind it so that there would not be any risk of the dam giving way.  The initials GCC were carved into the dam at that time, often misread as CCC and leading to the mistaken theory that the dam was a project of the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps.

 

Space considerations send “the rest of the story” to the next newsletter! 

 

 

 

 

 

CUBA TOWNSHIP

POLITICAL DISPLAYS/ SIGNS POLICY

Cuba Township has a long tradition of keeping its facilities and property “campaign free zones” and non-partisan.  This is especially important during the time of contested elections.  The facilities of Cuba Township are used heavily during this time for voter registration, early voting, in-person absentee voting and as an Election Day polling place.

 

In addition, Cuba Township’s campaign free zone tradition  tends to avoid any confusion that might otherwise arise should campaign materials be posted on Township property, as Cuba Township does not endorse particular candidates or political parties.

 

Thus, it is the intent of the Township to maintain its non-partisan integrity by discouraging political yard signs, banner or any other displays being posted on its property on a continuous basis.  Any such signs or displays within the Township buildings or left on other Township property for an extended period will be removed.

 

This policy is not intended to and should not be understood as intending to infringe, limit or otherwise disturb constitutional freedoms including, but not limited to, free speech.   Neither is this policy intended to be and should not be understood as intending to be in any manner inconsistent with the Illinois Election Code.

 

This policy is effective September 1, 2008 and covers all properties owned by the Cuba Township.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

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