A Unique Exhibit Featuring Town of Fort Sheridan with North Shore Chapter NSDAR at Lake Forest Library in November

For the month of November, exhibits in the foyer of Lake Forest Library will celebrate the history of the Town of Fort Sheridan through displays that will inform and engage history buffs, preservation aficionados, and military history enthusiasts. In a collaboration between Fort Sheridan Historical Society and North Shore Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, the November-curated library exhibit will explore an especially unique historic district that still maintains much of its original integrity as an important cultural resource to the region and the nation.

Built as a military installation by the U.S. Army beginning in 1887, the site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America and the training of its army recruits. Because of its rich history, parts of Fort Sheridan were nominated by the U.S. Army and later designated a National Historic Landmark District by the National Park Service in 1984.

This historic district encompasses 230 acres of land and buildings bounded by Hutchison and Bartlett Ravines along the shores of Lake Michigan in Lake County, Illinois along with ninety-one structures. Sixty-six of the contributing buildings were designed by the nationally prominent architectural firm of Holabird & Roche in the late 1880s and early 1890s. They include officers’ quarters, barracks, stables, a drill hall, and other service and institutional buildings, including the tall water tower that dominates the Fort.

Although sometimes overlooked in its significant to the original design of the landmark form, architect Ossian C. Simonds was responsible for the layout of the roads and the placement of the buildings in relation to the parade ground and the Fort’s overall streetscape.

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Fort Sheridan Historical Society has been created to honor, support, educate and promote the town’s importance in local military history from the late 1880s to present. In working to establish a local museum, the Society continues to compile a living history of those who have created the story of the Fort and share the stories, photographs and artifacts pertaining to Fort Sheridan. The FSHS hosts events both to educate and entertain. Fort Sheridan Historical Society has 501 (c) 3 status. For more information or to become a member, go to www.fortsheridanhistoricalsociety.org.

North Shore Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution is delighted to collaborate with the nascent development of Fort Sheridan Historical Society as an extension of the chapter’s core missions of historic preservation, education and patriotic endeavor.

* For information on DAR, go to www.dar.org.

* For information on North Shore Chapter NSDAR, email Willard Helander at NorthShoreDAR@gmail.com.

Photo: The Water Tower, said to be modeled after the Campanile at San Marco in Venice, continues to be the symbol of Fort Sheridan. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it was built at a cost of $41,276 in 1891, after the two adjoining 1000-foot long barracks buildings were finished. The massive limestone base with its sally port provided access for the passage of soldiers or carriages on what was then Sheridan Road. (Source: Fort Sheridan Historical Society; photo courtesy: North Shore Chapter NSDAR, Lake Forest, IL)