Chronology 1900-1909

ca. 1900    English replaces German in the services at St. Peter's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. (Life (Skokie), sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 76).

Edwin T. Klehm Residence Photograph, circa 1900Edwin T. Klehm builds a home with Niles Centre's first indoor toilet, and a windmill in the rear of the lot to pump water. (Life (Skokie), sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 49 / Omnibus, Emerson, op.cit., p. 26).

Niles Centre Public School Photograph, circa 1900The Niles Centre School building opened on Niles Centre Road. (Life (Skokie), sec. 3, January 17, 1963, pp. 10,47).

Population of Niles Centre is 529. (Clayton, op.cit., p. 41).

1900   (August 4)    John W. Brown is appointed to the Committee on Organization of the County Town Federation of Cook County. The purpose of the group is to preserve the power of township governments as an antidote to Chicago. (The Evanston Index, August 10, 1900).

1901   (July 4)    Lightning strikes the church tower of St. Peter's German Evangelical Lutheran Church. A new church tower had to be built. (Life (Skokie), sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 76).

April 27    Clerk's Report of Organization is filed with the Township Treasurer. It identifies School District 7 as School District 69. (Coninx, op.cit., p. 2).

St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church New Bell Tower Photograph, circa 19001902   (January)    The Cook County Truck Gardeners and Farmers Association is formed. (Beaudette, op.cit., p. 68 / Niles Center Press, January 9, 1931, p. 1).

Alma Klehm transferred to teach in the South Niles Center School (later Fairview) which included fifty-six children in two rooms, grades one through five. (Life (Skokie), sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 47).

St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church builds its second church on Oakton Street. (Our Family Album, op.cit., p.3).

1903   (February)    The Cook County Truck Gardeners and Farmers Association is incorporated. (Beaudette, op.cit., p. 68 / Niles Center Press, January 9, 1931, p. 1).

November 15    The new building for the St. Peter's German Evangelical Lutheran Church is completed. (Beaudette, op.cit. p. 21 / Life (Skokie)*, sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 76* / News (Skokie), November 16, 1933, p. 1).

November 18    The Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty grants sovereignty over a 10-mile wide strip of Panamanian territory to the United States for the purposes of constructing a canal. (Morris, op.cit., 294).

Niles Center Northwestern Station Building Photograph, 1926The Northwestern Railroad builds a branch through Niles Center, with a station at Oakton, just west of present-day Skokie Boulevard. (Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company, Public Relations**, Northwestern System Chronological Chart, rev. January 18, 1973: June 18, 1978 / Life (Skokie)*, sec. 3, January 17, 1963, pp. 13, 21 / Villager*, July 3, 1958, p. 13)

St. Paul's Ladies Aid Society of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church is formed. (News (Skokie), December 10, 1943, p. 1 / News (Skokie), February 3, 1955, p. 42).

1905    From this date until 1918, silent movies are shot in the Village by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company. (Chicago-Herald & Examiner, part 5, August 14, 1938, pp. 1-2 / Illinois; A History of the Prairie State, Robert P. Howard, 1972, p. 458 / News (Skokie), July 3, 1963, p. 19).

July 2    Section 15 of the Luxembourg Brotherhood of America is formed by 21 charter members. (Luxembourg Brotherhood of America, 1887 - 1987, Richard J. Witry, 1987, p. 120 / News (Skokie), February 3, 1955, p. 112).

1906    A Village ordinance is passed barring people under the age of fifteen from the street after 8 p.m. (Chicago's American, January 17, 1959, p. 9).

1907   (July 24)    The "North Shore & Western RR" begins service on tracks laid between present-day Lincolnwood Drive in Evanston and the Glen View Golf Club. The route. 3.75 miles long, followed Harrison Street / Old Orchard Rd. It crossed Gross Point Rd., Skokie Highway (Skokie Blvd), the Chicago & NW tracks, Harms Rd. and the Chicago River. Car No. 1 is labeled the "Dinky". Thus the name "Dinky Line". (William E. Robertson, The North Shore & Western Railway: A History, Summer, 1988, p. 11-12, Archives Skokie Historical Society).

Niles Center State Bank Building Photograph, 1910sOctober 17    The Niles Centre State Bank (later the First National Bank of Skokie) is organized by Arista B. Williams, John W. Brown, Peter M. Hoffman, William J. Galitz and others. (Beaudette, op.cit., p. 12 / League of Women Voters of Skokie-Lincolnwood, op.cit., p. 16 / News (Skokie), March 17, 1950, p. 1 / News (Skokie), July 3, 1963, pp. 5, 66).

1908    Work begins on the North Shore Channel of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago. Metropolitan Sanitary District North Shore Channel Under Construction Photograph, 1910Completed in 1910, the eight-mile channel runs from Lake Michigan at Wilmette to the North Branch of the Chicago River at Lawrence Avenue. (Life (Skokie)*, sec. 3, January 17, 1963, p. 13 / News (Skokie), July 3, 1963, p. 77 / News (Skokie), July 22, 1976, p. 19 / Villager, June 26, 1958, p. 15 / Ward Walker, The Story of the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, the Seventh Wonder of American Engineering, Metropolitan Sanitary District, Chicago, 1959, p. 18).

1909    137 children are enrolled at St. Peter Catholic School. (Buisseret, et.al., op.cit., p. 90).

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