Lake Forest-Lake Bluff History Museum

Pamphlet advertising the Methodist Deaconess Orphanage, c. 1900.

Postcard showing the facilities, early 1900s.

September 30, 1967.

Party, c. 1950.

Lake Forester cover, September 16, 1949.

1979, prior to demolition.

Video by Isabella Roumain, 2019. World Civilizations 2, Lake Forest High School Social Studies Department.

For 75 years, from 1894-1969, the Lake Bluff Children’s Home (LBCH) helped more than 100 children annually. The legacy began with the arrival of six homeless children in 1894 from Chicago to be cared for in a rented cottage. James Hobbs, president of the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association, and his wife Marilla funded construction of the Methodist Deaconess Orphanage building the next year for up to 30 children.

From this modest beginning, a major childcare facility developed. LBCH buildings eventually occupied the entire block bounded by Scranton, North, Glen and Evanston Avenues. The range of services included adoption and foster home placement. Lake Forest and Lake Bluff benefactors provided funding and support as well as volunteering and leadership on the Board.

LBCH children attended local Lake Bluff schools and often Lake Forest High School. Dr. Raymond Moore, Lake Forest High School superintendent from 1936 to 1960, was a former LBCH resident. The children raised chickens and gardened on the LBCH campus, which also featured a playground. Walks to the beach and sledding parties were common outings.

As foster care for children began shifting away from institutional settings in the 1950s, the LBCH focused on fewer individuals with more specialized needs, emphasizing counseling. In 1969 the facility closed - the agency is now known as ChildServ.After efforts to adapt and reuse the buildings stalled, the LBCH property was sold to a developer. The buildings were demolished in March 1979; single-family houses now occupy the site.

Lake Forest High School student Isabella Roumain created this video about the history of the Children's Home.

Lake Bluff Children's Home: Comfort and Space for Orphaned Children