At the Flossmoor Park neighborhood’s centennial celebration on August 11, both written history and architectural history in the surrounding landscape were on display at the FCC Community House.
The history of the neighborhood was told by cooperating local historians Jeff Hamrick, who lives on Gardner Lane, and David Martin, who works for the Flossmoor Public Library.
the history of the Flossmoor Park district, which was shown
at the FCC Community House on Sunday, August 11th.
(Eric Crump/HF Chronicle)
Together they designed display boards that told of the founding of the district, the famous golfers who were memorialized in street names, and the nine 100-year-old houses that were shown on the tour that day.
Hamrick said the pandemic that began in 2020 provided an opportunity to delve into the neighborhood’s history.
“When COVID hit, I had a lot of time to explore the neighborhood and get to know the neighbors. And I very quickly wanted to learn more about the origins of this very special, very beautiful neighborhood.”
He found aerial photographs from 1925 that show the district during its construction.
“I was fascinated. I wanted to know everything about these houses,” he said.
David Martin was conducting similar research for the library when Mayor Michelle Nelson introduced him to Hamrick, and the collaboration was born.
Martin said what fascinated him about the creation of Flossmoor Park was its connection to Andrew Carnegie, one of the country’s richest and most famous businessmen.
“Henry Phipps, Andrew Carnegie’s business partner, became one of the richest men in America in the early 20th century,” Martin said. “And it was his fortune that founded the company that created this neighborhood.”
Outside the community center, people enjoyed the beautiful weather and toured nine houses that were built in the early days of the neighborhood.
Mary and Bert Schepler greeted neighbors strolling by on their rounds while their daughter Ruby took a break from chalking on the sidewalk.
She said they moved into their home on Evans Road, which was on the tour, because they value the community’s diversity and inclusion. The white couple have a black daughter.
“We knew we wanted to work in the HF department,” she said. “It was important to us that our daughter see people like her.”
(Eric Crump/HF Chronicle)
