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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to extend hearty congratulations to the
4citizens of the City of Crystal Lake in McHenry County on the
5occasion of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the City's
6charter; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The City of Crystal Lake is located 50 miles
8northwest of Chicago; it is currently McHenry County's largest
9municipality; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Crystal Lake's origins can be traced to 2 separate
11communities, Crystal Lake and Nunda, both of which were
12established in the 1800s; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1836, Beman and Polly Tuttle Crandall and 6
14children traveled from New York to Crystal Lake in a covered
15wagon; they eventually built a log cabin in the vicinity of
16what is today the intersection of Virginia Street and Van Buren
17Street; they soon discovered a sparkling clear lake, tall
18timber, and vast prairies; and
 
19    WHEREAS, By August of 1836, the United States government
20granted homestead rights to the Crandalls; in May of 1837,
21Hajah Beardsley's family was the second to settle in Crystal

 

 

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1Lake; the town was first known as Crystal Ville, but prior to
21840 it was changed to Crystal Lake; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The Village of Crystal Lake was platted in 1840 by
4Beman Crandall, Christopher Walkup, and Abner Beardsley; the
5village had the boundaries of Virginia Street to the north,
6Lake Avenue to the south, McHenry Avenue to the east, and Dole
7Avenue to the west; an old trail, forged by the Sac and Fox
8tribes, extended from Fort Dearborn in Chicago to northwest
9Wisconsin, with the portion through Crystal Lake known as
10today's Route 14; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Village of Nunda was established in 1855 with
12the Chicago, St. Paul, and Fond du Lac railroad, the first
13direct rail connection from Chicago; the Village was platted
14later that year by local surveyor John Brink; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In 1856, a rail spur line, which today is known as
16Dole Avenue, was built from the Village of Nunda to Crystal
17Lake to transport ice cut from the lake to Chicago and to bring
18visitors from Chicago to the area; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The Villages of Crystal Lake and Nunda were each
20incorporated in 1874; in 1908, the name of the Village of Nunda
21was changed to North Crystal Lake; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, The Village's first public library opened in 1913
2with a small collection of books and magazines; today, that
3library circulates more than one million items each year; and
 
4    WHEREAS, After several attempts to consolidate the 2
5villages failed, on April 28, 1914, the Village of North
6Crystal Lake was finally annexed into the Village of Crystal
7Lake; a City form of government was established at that time;
8on September 23, 1914, the City of Crystal Lake Charter was
9adopted; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The City of Crystal Lake's first mayor was Mayor
11William Pinnow, who served from 1914 to 1917; a total of 16
12mayors have presided over the City since that time; and
 
13    WHEREAS, In 1914, there was one public high school and one
14public grade school in Crystal Lake; today, the community's
15children attend 2 of the very best public school systems in the
16region - Elementary School District 47 and Community High
17School District 155; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In the 1920s, an aggressive street paving program
19took place under Mayors Ben Raue and Fred Mathis; the Crystal
20Lake Park District was created in 1921 out of community concern
21that public access to the lake and beach would be lost to
22private ownership; today, residents enjoy more than 1,600 acres

 

 

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1of parks and open space, as well as the 230-acre Crystal Lake
2for summertime fishing, boating, swimming, and wintertime ice
3fishing and skating; and
 
4    WHEREAS, In 1929, the El Tovar Theatre was built; this
5theatre was eventually renovated to become today's Raue Center
6for the Arts; and
 
7    WHEREAS, In 1936, the City celebrated 100 years since the
8first settlers arrived in Crystal Lake; the celebration
9included a Centennial queen and court, a large parade, antique
10displays, and a pageant; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Mining for gravel began in the 1950s, amidst much
12controversy; an agreement was eventually reached where the land
13would be deeded to the City once the gravel operations ceased;
14this land was ultimately developed into today's Three Oaks
15Recreation Area; and
 
16    WHEREAS, Hundreds of homes and 5 lives were lost on April
1711, 1965, when a devastating tornado ripped through a highly
18populated area of town; the community joined together after the
19tornado to help neighbors and to rebuild; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Beginning in the 1970s, Crystal Lake experienced
21significant changes in both its residential and business

 

 

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1population, with population growing from approximately 14,000
2in the early 1970s to almost 41,000 in 2010; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The City of Crystal Lake's City Hall was located
4at the corner of Main and Beardsley Streets until a point in
5the 1900s, when a new Municipal Complex was built on Woodstock
6Street; a large addition to the Municipal Complex was completed
7in 2004; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In 2001, the Downtown City of Crystal Lake was a
9recipient of the Governor's Hometown Award for the
10revitalization of the downtown area; in 2012, the City once
11again received the Governor's Hometown Award, this time for
12improvements to the Three Oaks Recreational area; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Today, people continue to relocate to Crystal Lake
14in search of more open space, less traffic, more affordable
15land, and safer neighborhoods; therefore, be it
 
16    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
18we congratulate the City of Crystal Lake on the occasion of the
19100th anniversary of the signing of the City's charter; and be
20it further
 
21    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be

 

 

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1presented to the City of Crystal Lake's City Council as an
2expression of our congratulations.