At Home in Skokie

Most of the current housing stock in Skokie, Illinois is composed of single-family dwellings, with a healthy mixture of apartments and condominiums.

Though the single-family bungalow is now pervasive, the growth and expansion of Skokie (known as Niles Center until 1940), was achieved in fits and starts over the course of several decades. 

Skokie’s earliest non-Native settlers were farmers and homesteaders, and their utilitarian homes were cabins and farmhouses. There was little industrial development in those early days and population growth was slow.

The At Home in Skokie digital collection illustrates the efforts of early twentieth-century real estate developers and Village officials to transform an area populated by greenhouses and farms into a community with appealing housing stock with modern amenities.

The items in this collection include architectural drawings, realtor’s postcards and advertisements, maps, and photographs of houses, apartment buildings, and subdivisions in various stages of completion.

The entire At Home in Skokie digital collection is available in the Illinois Digital Archive.