Ridge Farm Preventorium: A Healthy Place in the Country

North Shore reformers, led by Alice May Dickinson, established Ridge Farm Preventorium in 1914 to provide children living in poor urban conditions an opportunity to improve their health in the country...

Quinlan School: First Public School in Lake Forest

This school was established in 1861, as the first public school in Lake Forest. The teacher was Roxanna Beecher, niece of famed abolitionist and Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher and autho...

Halsey School: Elementary Education Through the 1950s

In 1888, a four-room school called West School was built on the corner of Deerpath Road and Oakwood Avenue, right across from the future site of City Hall. After a couple additions, the school was ren...

Dickinson Seminary for Young Ladies: Shaping Education for Women

Rev. Baxter Dickinson opened Dickinson’s Seminary for Young Ladies with his four daughters as instructors in 1859. The school was located in an Italianate building near the southeast corner of Washing...

Ferry Hall Dances and Social Life

Whether they were dressed to the nines for a school dance, or relaxing at a beach picnic, Ferry Hall students enjoyed socializing in a variety of ways. Impromptu gatherings of classmates in dorm rooms...

Ferry Hall Academics and Fine Arts

By Rita MacAyeal, Director of the Library and ArchivistFrom its inception, Ferry Hall offered its students a rigorous academic curriculum in contrast to many of the “finishing schools” of its era. St...

Ferry Hall Athletics and Field Day

By Rita MacAyeal, Director of the Library and ArchivistPhysical fitness was a part of Ferry Hall life from the very beginning; students participated in indoor gymnastics and were encouraged to engage...

Ferry Hall Campus

By Rita MacAyeal, Director of the Library and ArchivistThe original Ferry Hall building was built in 1869 on Mayflower Road between Cliff Ave. and Rosemary Ave. The four-story cream colored brick buil...

Ferry Hall Graduation and Move Up Day

By Rita MacAyeal, Director of the Library and ArchivistThe first Ferry Hall graduation was held in June 1871 at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest , which would be the venue for most of the...

Lyons School District 106: One Teacher, One Room, One Box Stove

A school was established in 1866 for students at the western edge of Lake Forest near the current intersection of Riverwoods and Shagbark roads. It was on the property of the Lyons family and known as...

First Everett School: One Room Filled with Education

The first, one-room Everett School - then District 112 - was located on the southwest corner of Waukegan and Old Mill roads. It was in use around the turn of the century. By 1912, it housed 30 pupils....

Vickerman School: In the Center of Farm Land

A one-room schoolhouse stood on the east side of Waukegan Road, north of Deerpath. This was located on land donated by the Henry Vickerman family and known as Vickerman School. Students ages 5 to 20,...

Town and Gown: Lake Forest College President Emeritus Eugene Hotchkiss

Dr. Eugene Hotchkiss was President of Lake Forest College from 1970 to 1993. He and his wife Suzanne enthusiastically became rooted in the community and all that it has to offer.

School at St. Patrick Church: Pioneer Schoolhouse

Early settlers in west Lake Forest opened their first school on weekdays in the same log building used for church on Sundays, located next to St. Patrick's cemetery and near the farm of Michael Yore....

Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart

The Academy of the Sacred Heart came to Lake Forest from Chicago in 1901 to find a more isolated location to reduce distractions for their students. The Academy settled on 43 wooded acres in south Lak...

The School of St. Mary

The Church of St. Mary was established in 1875 and the parish built a school, with five classrooms, in 1917. The third floor was used to house the original five Sisters of Mercy who taught at the scho...

Thorpe Academy: "Send us the boy and we return to you a little man"

“Send us the boy and we return to you a little man.” So promised the admissions catalog of Thorpe Academy, a short-lived school for boys ages 6-16 located in Lake Forest. Thorpe was the brainchild of...

Mary Keough: Extraordinary Everett Educator

“I credit Mary Keough for giving me a solid basis in life. My life has been enriched for having been taught by her.” – Reminiscence of Bess McClure, former student.

Everett School

In 1914, Everett School doubled in size and left the one-room schoolhouse era behind. The year before residents approved a $5,000 bond for a new school, combining Lyons and Everett into one district....

Gorton School: Beloved Space for Community

Central School was built in 1901 from designs by James Gamble Rogers. In 1905, the name was changed to Gorton School in honor of Lake Forest mayor Edward F. Gorton. Several prominent local architects...