Skokie History Project
In 2001, Skokie Public Library partnered with the Skokie Historical Society and digitized more than 450 photographs, maps, and documents from the Historical Society. The project was funded by a grant from the Illinois State Library, Jesse White, State Librarian.
If you have questions or comments about this project or about Skokie history, send an email to a Skokie Public Library Reference Librarian or contact the Information Services Desk at 847.673.3733.
Aerial Photographs
This
is a collection of aerial photographs of Niles Center and Skokie, Illinois
from 1890 to 1994. These photographs include true aerial photographs taken
from airplanes as well as photographs taken of Skokie from above street
level, such as from a roof or window. Be sure to look at the photographs
taken over time, looking south from the steeple of St. Peter Catholic Church
at the intersection of Niles Center Road and Lincoln Avenue. For
street-level views of businesses in Skokie, see the Skokie History -- Businesses Collection or of schools, see the Skokie History -- Schools and Class Pictures Collection, or of street
scenes, see the Skokie History -- Street Scenes Collection.
Artifacts, Documents, and Signs
This
is a collection of artifacts and documents from the collection of the Skokie
Historical Society. The documents include the incorporation papers for the
village of Niles Center, Illinois from 1888 and mail cancellations from the
day before and the day after the name of the village was changed from Niles
Center to Skokie in 1940. The artifacts include: a photograph of a
nineteenth century vise, a sign from the Skokie Village Centennial
celebration, and an auto vehicle tag from the 1940s. All of these materials
are part of the collection of Skokie Historical Society. To see other
documents, such as invoices from Niles Center businesses in the late 19th
century, see the Skokie History -- Businesses Collection and for brochures from
local organizations, see the Skokie History -- Organizations Collection.
Businesses
This
is a collection of photographs and documents that help to tell the history
of businesses in Skokie. Included here are photographs of businesses in
Skokie, from the Klehm Brothers Store established in the 1860s, to the
greenhouses used by the many farmers in Niles Center in the early history of
the Village, to the changing businesses over time in Skokie from the 1800s
to G.D. Searle in the 1980s, and to photographs of Skokie's oldest
family-owned business, the Haben Funeral Home (formerly the Bradley and
Haben Funeral Home). Also included in this collection are invoices from some
of Skokie's early businesses, such as Peter Blameuser’s purchase of eight
new horseshoes from Hermann Gehrhardt in January of 1903.
Fire and Police Departments
This
is a collection of photographs of fire stations, fire fighters, and police
officers in Niles Center and Skokie from 1851 to 1987. Included here are
photographs of the Skokie Police Department with their motorcycles, circa
1950, and of the Niles Center Volunteer Fire Department in 1898.
Houses and Apartment Buildings
This
is a collection of photographs and documents of houses and apartment
buildings in Skokie, Illinois and Niles Center, Illinois from the collection
of the Skokie Historical Society. This collection includes photographs of
the house of Henry Harms, one of Niles Center's founders, photographs of a
historic log cabin, the construction of bungalows in 1926, and of the Bronx
Apartment Building on Skokie Boulevard.
Maps
This
is a collection of maps from the Skokie Historical Society. These maps
include a surveyors' map of Gross Point Road from 1896 showing the
properties owned by early Niles Center residents and a telephone exchange
map from 1912.
Metropolitan Sanitary Water District
This
is a collection of photographs of the construction of the North Shore
channel of the Metropolitan Sanitary Water District in Skokie, Illinois
(formerly Niles Center, Illinois) and the District's facilities. These
photographs are part of the collection of the Skokie Historical Society.
Municipal Buildings and Services
This
is a collection of photographs of municipal buildings and related services
in Niles Center, Illinois and Skokie, Illinois from the Skokie Historical
Society. This collection includes images of the construction of the Skokie
Village Hall, the Niles Center Post Office, and the Cook County Court House.
Take a look at the Fire and Police Department Collection to see pictures of firehouses and
fire fighters, and police officers and vehicles. For photographs of the
construction of the Metropolitan Sanitary Water District, click here. The Parks and Recreation Collection includes pictures of Oakton Park pool
and Klehm's Picnic Grove. Photographs of schools in Niles Center and Skokie
can be found in the Schools and Class Pictures Collection. The 1888 incorporation papers for
Niles Center are in the Artifacts and Documents Collection.
Organizations
This
is a collection of photographs of Niles Center and Skokie, Illinois
organizations and some related documents, such as brochures, directories,
and incorporation papers from the Skokie Historical Society. This collection
includes photographs of groups such as: the Luxembourg Brotherhood, Niles
Center Athletic Baseball Team, the Bachelor Maiden Club, the Glamour Girls,
the Skokie Drum and Bugle Corps, and the Jewish War Veterans Post 328.
Parks and Recreation
This
is a collection of photographs of public parks, amusement parks, and other
recreational facilities in organizations and some related documents, such as
brochures and directories. This collection includes photographs of George
Klehm's Picnic Grove in 1928, the Skokie Park District's Oakton Park, and
the Fun Fair Amusement Park from 1950s and 1960s.
People and Families
This
is a collection of photographs of people who lived in Skokie and Niles
Center, Illinois from the collection of the Skokie Historical Society. These
pictures include images of Skokie’s mayors and other officials, of Niles
Center’s early settlers and founders, from a tintype of Margaret Harrer
Meyer in the 1800s to a picture of the Klehm family at the turn of the
century, to photograph of Henry Harms in 1914, to a group picture of Village
officia
ls ceremonially sweeping the street in the 1950s and portrait of Mayor Albert J. Smith in the 1960s.
Religious Buildings and Congregations
This
is a collection of photographs of churches and synagogues in Skokie,
Illinois and Niles Center, Illinois from the Skokie Historical Society. This
collection includes photographs of: St. Peter Evangelical Church, the Niles
Township Jewish Congregation Building, St. Peter’s Catholic Church and some
of their congregations.
Schools and Class Pictures
This
is a collection of photographs of public, private, home, and parochial
school buildings and class portraits from Skokie, Illinois and Niles Center,
Illinois from the Skokie Historical Society. Here you will find pictures
from the Cook County School Home Garden Club in 1910, the Hillel Torah North
Suburban Day School in 1985, and class portraits of children from the
Fairview School in 1904, 1914, and 1931.
Street Scenes
This
is a collection of photographs of street scenes and groups of buildings,
both commercial and residential in Skokie, Illinois and Niles Center,
Illinois from the Skokie Historical Society from the 1880s to the 1980s.
Images in this collection include views of Dempster Street west from Bronx
Avenue in 1926, Lincoln Avenue at Oakton Street in the 1960s, and the
intersection of Cleveland Street and Floral Avenue in 1916.
Train Stations
This
is a collection of photographs of trains and train stations in Skokie,
Illinois and Niles Center, Illinois from the Skokie Historical Society. This
collection of images includes a postcard of the Oakton Street “el” station
around 1900 and the Dempster Street “el” dedication ceremony in 1926.