Will County Forest Preserve District Celebrates 90 Years

Ninety years ago, Calvin Coolidge was president, Prohibition was in force, Babe Ruth was slugging home runs for the Yankees and Will County was in transition.

While wolves still roamed free in some areas of the county in 1926, development was taking off and there was a movement afoot to build a “super-highway system” linking Will County with Cook County and beyond.

In Joliet, community leaders were working hard to raise funds to build the city’s first YMCA, and excitement was growing as the opening neared for the Rialto Square Theatre on Chicago Street. The glitzy showplace was set to open on May 24, 1926, and the Joliet Evening Herald-News had all of the festive details in its May 23, 1926, edition.

Another story in that edition of the paper announced a community based quest to create a countywide forest preserve district. This movement to save the county’s “timber tracts” was spearheaded by the Joliet Rotary, and it was led by Dr. W. Henry Wilson, chairman of the Rotary’s Forest Preserve Committee. Wilson, a nationally known pathologist who worked at Silver Cross Hospital, stressed the benefits of preserved open space.

“It is accessible to the public, for pleasure and recreation, and is beautifying to the county,” he told the Joliet Evening Herald-News.

Rotary members said they feared the county’s open spaces would go the way of the buffalo without a forest preserve district. The group was successful in gathering the petition signatures required to get a forest preserve referendum on the Nov. 2, 1926, ballot. The referendum passed by almost a 2-to-1 margin – 16,611 people voted in favor and 8,774 voted against the measure.

In the 90 years since its creation, the Forest Preserve District has grown from 143 acres in 1930 to almost 22,000 acres that are owned, leased or managed as of 2016. All of this preservation came at a time when the county’s population mushroomed from 110,732 in 1920 to around 700,000 residents today.

Efforts by Wilson, his Rotary colleagues and the voters of Will County have made a difference in the county’s quality of life for all species. They stepped in as development was ramping up in Will County and they provided a pathway to preservation.

“Because of the foresight of Dr. Wilson, his fellow Rotary members and the thousands of voters who approved the initial referendum, the lives of Will County residents have been greatly enriched and they will be for generations to come,” said Ralph Schultz, the District’s chief operating officer. “I hope that we can continue to enhance their vision as we seek to protect, restore and interpret nature and to make our great open spaces accessible and enjoyable for the residents of Will County.”

Submitted by the Forest Preserve District of Will County