Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1870 - 1925 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
7 books [mixed materials] : 2 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Highland Park Building Company, led by resident manager Frank P Hawkins (also the first mayor of Highland Park), was created on May 29, 1867 when a group of business men purchased land from Walter S Gurnee with intent of creating a fashionable community "of means and taste*." Other members of the Company included Cornelius R Field (sales), William French (engineer), Horace Cleveland (landscape architect), and the Reverend William Wallace Events. The Company chartered special trains from Chicago to the North Shore to hold grand sales events on lots and present plans for Gothic and Italianate Victorian homes. The Company purchased the Highland Park Hotel and renamed it the Central Hotel in 1867 also.
The Highland Park Building Company took an active role in community planning and development to attract home owners. They built the (former) Highland Park train depot. The Company financed the first public school in Highland Park, the Port Clinton Avenue School, and established Highland Hall, a girls finishing school. Additionally, the Company provided funds for Baptist and Methodist Churches.
*Pioneer to Commuter : the Story of Highland Park/ by Marvyn Wittelle 1958, p. 41.
Repository
Archival history
Donated to the Highland Park Historical Society by the estate of Frank P. Hawkins in 1966.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Business records, including ledgers, letter books, stock certificates and minutes from the Highland Park Building Company.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
None.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Items are extremely fragile. Some are brittle.
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Alternative identifier(s)
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Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
2017.05.02 nlw
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Sources
Archivist's note
Processed by Konstadina Argyropoulos.