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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The phenomenal growth of Waukegan Township,
3located 36 miles north of Chicago and 60 miles south of
4Milwaukee, can be attributed to industry, Lake Michigan, and
5the railroads; toward the middle of the 19th century, Waukegan
6Township became a thriving center of industry; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company of
8Worcester, Massachusetts established a wire mill, the Waukegan
9Works, along Lake Michigan; the land for its Illinois operation
10was purchased on January 16, 1891 at the recommendation of its
11advisers, Philip W. Moen, Charles G. Washburn, Fred H. Daniels,
12and Edwin Lenox, and included much of the Elisha Wadsworth
13Estate; in March of 1891, construction of the Mill complex was
14started on a 40 acre plot; by September, a galvanizing
15operation began; in November, the company's subdivision, The
16Waukegan Highlands, was platted west of the mill; the first
17wire was drawn in December; and
 
18    WHEREAS, In 1892, the company, a principal manufacturer of
19Glidden barbed wire, introduced Waukegan Barbed Wire, invented
20by John D. Curtis; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The establishment of the plant led both an
22industrial and population boom, with workers from Worcester and

 

 

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1immigrants from Finland, Sweden, and Eastern Europe moving to
2the Washburn and Moen subdivision; Slovenian workers called the
3area "the Kompanija" - the Company District; first named South
4Waukegan, the community that rapidly developed near the mill
5was later incorporated as North Chicago; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The first wave of industrialization attracted
7Eastern Europeans, Finns, and Swedes; during the 1920s, the
8next round of manufacturing expansion, Waukegan's population
9went up about 75%, drawing upon African-Americans and Southern
10whites; by 1955, there were around 19,000 manufacturing jobs in
11the Waukegan-North Chicago economic complex; all the workers
12who came for those jobs were critical to growing thriving
13communities; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The American Steel and Wire Company, which later
15became the United States Steel Corporation, acquired the Mill
16in 1899; by the 1950s, the company had become one of Lake
17County's largest employers; and
 
18    WHEREAS, Many companies, including American Steel & Wire
19(United States Steel), Cyclone Fence, Fansteel, and Chicago
20Hardware Foundry, among others, forged not just metals, but the
21means of growth and support for Waukegan Township; and
 
22    WHEREAS, In 1980, the Steel Worker Retirees Club was

 

 

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1created to further the interests of retired steelworkers and
2their spouses and better the communities where they live; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The Steel Worker Retirees Club welcomes any person
4as a member who was in good standing with the United Steel
5Workers of America at the time of their retirement; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Steel Worker Retirees Club includes any person
7as a member who was a retiree, spouse, widow, or widower of a
8former employee of United States Steel, Waukegan Works, Cyclone
9Fence, and the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Wire Mill Workers Retirees Club has been an
11integral part of the communities of Waukegan and North Chicago;
12therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
15we recognize and congratulate the members of the Wire Mill
16Workers Retirees Club and their families at their annual
17reunion dinner; and be it further
 
18    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19presented to the Wire Mill Workers Retirees Club as an
20expression of our esteem and respect.