Chapter 9: In the Shadow of Chicago
Niles Center had enlarged its boundaries during the boom of the Twenties. As originally incorporated, it was about one square mile in area. The north boundary was Main Street, east boundary Cicero, south Mulford, and west Long Avenue.
Annexing section after section of previously unincorporated land, the village expanded to Central on the north, touching Wilmette and Glenview, to the canal on the east, to Touhy and Pratt on the south. Minor annexations have been made since.
Thus it became the largest area under village form of government in the United States and it still is. Oak Park is the largest village in population.
We sometimes hear it said that Skokie is the largest village in the world, but that is putting the comparison on an impossible basis for the meaning of the word "village" differs from country in the Old World. For that matter it has no standard meaning in America.
It seems that Skokie has received more than its due proportion of space in this series, it perhaps has been inevitable because the author spent nineteen years in, with, and for Skokie. The second and main reason is that the town has a rather more spectacular story. Exciting things happened to it, and even ordinary events have a tendency to take on exciting twists.
The other three towns grew, prospered, and progressed steadily under direction of able and energetic men. But in the central village the leaders seemed frequently to find the dramatic just waiting to be touched off.
Tessville Incorporated
Tessville incorporated in November 1911 under its old name which had previously been unofficial, honoring Johann Tess, one of the earliest settlers, who had come from Germany in 1856.
The growth of population was a minor reason for organization, for it was only 365.
Chicago's relentless push northward is mentioned as one cause. Could it be that residents feared annexation by the city some day? Niles Center surely offered no such threat as yet, though ten years later it might have been eyed with suspicion.
Whatever the spur, the idea seems to have been spearheaded by Leopold Bree.
The first meeting was held in Bree Hall at Lincoln and Touhy. Frank Meier was elected President, his brother John, the Clerk, and Charles Tess, Treasurer. The boundaries were set virtually as they are at present Jarvis to Devon, and McCormick to Lamon, and the portion south of Pratt running west to Carpenter Road.
In the roll call of presidents from that time on, every name is German, indicating the same origin linking this village with the others. Like the rest of the township, too, at the time of incorporation it was still agricultural, with gardening and flowers the specialty.
Lincoln Avenue, crossing diagonally from southeast to northwest through Tessville, became a state highway in 1932, and a little later Pratt, cutting the village from east to west. These became pleasure drives through the well-wooded area. With an eye to the future the Council voted to set out ten thousand young elms in the parkways, which became an added enticement to buyers.
Name Change
Soon real estate operators sensed the value in a more descriptive name for the town, and persuaded the Council to consider the matter.
In 1935 the Council circulated a petition to change the name to Lincolnwood. It met with almost unanimous favor. The choice was appropriate for the village had plenty of both Lincoln Avenue and woods.
The change brought results, or something did, and farms began to disappear and beautiful residences to take their place. This development, unlike the boom in Niles Center in the 1920s was not the fever of speculation.
The progress of Lincolnwood following its name change stirred ambitions in Niles Center.
Real estate men claimed that the very rural sound of that name was a disadvantage. They contended that prospective buyers balked when they considered the farmerish address they would have to give to their friends.
To the loyal scions of early families this was outright insult. They pointed out, not without reason, that the name was appropriate to the location, and that it hadn't handicapped the village nor stunted its growth. The argument reached fever heat, and the town split into two embattled factions.
A contest inviting suggestions for names was held, and 1168 entries were submitted. For some reason there was a trend toward Scotch names from the Waverly novels. These naturally evoked jeers from the old settlers, for such titles belied the German origin.
When the tally was made, "Oakton" and "Ridgeview" had run stronger than other suggestions, and an unofficial vote was staged to make a final decision. "Ridgeview" polled 1089 and "Oakton" 890.
Niles Center Referendum
Now a petition was filed by those who opposed any change. The opposition came up with their petition to re-name no definite choice being indicated. Mayor George Blameuser called for a referendum to settle the matter.
Few political issues in the town have stirred the voters to more action. There were letters to the press. Circulars were dropped at doors. The night before the election there was a street demonstration. The outcome of the vote was triumph for the re-namers, and defeat for the champions of the old one.
There had been enough of public to do, generating useless ill feeling. No more choice was offered to the people. The decision went to a committee responsible to the Council, From entries which have been submitted councilmen voted on five: Oakton, Ridgemoor, Woodridge, Westridge, and Skokie.
Of the twenty-three ballots cast, Skokie received fifteen. It was done quietly and the name sent to Springfield for approval. Some small dissent was registered there because of possible confusion with Skokie Valley, but it was accepted.
The news reached Skokie one evening and spread fast. As this name had not had much publicity it came as a surprise and brought lively comment.
The most frequent criticism voiced by the dissatisfied was, "So now we've gone back to the Indians, have we?"
The opposition to change tried to resist the new name and perpetuate the old. Some held out for as long as two or three years on revising the title of their business or organization. Today only one remnant of the old term remains, Niles Center Road, reminiscent of the old German village.
One reason for its quick acceptance by the majority was the fact that the word was already in use. A little to the north is the Skokie River. The North Shore line running through the town is officially the Skokie Valley Branch. Cicero Avenue had been Skokie Highway for some years and several establishments along its route had incorporated the name into their business titles.
'Big Swamp'
And now for its meaning. "Big Swamp" seems to have won such general acceptance that it will doubtless stick, yet there are other possible translations, each supported by scholars of Indian life and language. One is "Red Lands." The Foxes call themselves by a variety of names: "Musquaka," "Miskokie," "Misquaking," all signifying "Red Land People". "Misko" and its variations for Red, and "ak" for Land. Perhaps differences are due to the white man's hearing rather than the Indian's pronunciation.
Another theory comes from J. Seymour Currey, one-time president of Evanston Historical Society, in papers of 1906. He says that "Muskoutons" means "The Fire People," then might simmer down to mean "swamp," after all for the territory in question was peat bog, and the name, he says, "had reference to the smoke which is seen rising from such places. People living in Rogers Park tell me that smoke hangs over the bog there, indicating that there is slow combustion underground."
Perhaps, again, this is one and the same thing with "Red lands," with swamp vegetation dried and reddened by the fires beneath.
Another school of thought is that it is simply and directly signifies "swamp". "Muskoki" the Algonquin equivalent for "muskeg" a Chippewa word which has passed into the English language to signify "shaking, trembling land."
Still another authority in Illinois State Agricultural papers of 1856, defines "Wabskokie" as "wet prairie." The Chicago Tribune of August 10, 1940, reporting the change in the village name, regrets "that still another syllable was lost along the trail, and Niles Center will not bear the charming name of Che-Wabskokie" "Big Wet Prairie."
To which we might retort, that, anyway, the name hasn't the odor of wild onions, the well established translation of "Chicago."
- Originally published in The Villager, Thursday, July 10, 1958, pp. 13-14
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