Historic Schmidt-Burnham Log House To Reopen To Public In October

WINNETKA, IL — The oldest log structure in Cook County has been closed to the public for some time now due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. But that will change soon as the curator of the Schmidt-Burnham log house announced that the site will reopen next month starting with a celebratory ceremony.

The log house, which was built around 1837, is located on 1140 Willow Rd. in Crow Island Woods. The reopening ceremony will take place from 2-4 p.m. on Oct. 2, when guests will be able to enjoy new exhibits, artifacts, a scavenger hunt, games and more, organizers from the Winnetka Historical Society announced on Sunday.

Self-guided tours will be available from 2-4 p.m. between Oct. 2 and Nov. 21.

Meagan McChesney, the curator of the Winnetka Historical Society, told Patch on Monday that after the site had been closed for a year due to the pandemic, it remained closed this summer due to work at the site. She said that new interpretive signage and artifact cases have been installed at the home.

“For us, reopening is exciting,” McChesney wrote in an email. “The Log House is such an incredible historical resource, and we are thrilled to be able to share its story in new ways next month.”

The Schmidt-Burnham log house was the longest occupied home in northern Illinois until the daughter of Anita Willets-Burnham gifted the home to the Winnetka Historical Society in 2001. The log house first opened to the public in 2006 and is on the Register of Historic Places.

The log house is named for the Schmidt family, who lived in the home between 1841 and 1870 and the Burnham family, who resided in the log house between 1917 and 2001. The log house was originally part of a German settlement on Ridge Road near what is now the Indian Hill Club, the historical society said.

The Schmidt family, which was the home’s first documented hours, settled in the area from Trier, Germany in 1839 and took occupancy of the home four years later. Willets-Burnham then purchased the home for $25 and moved it from Ridge Road by a horse-drawn wagon to 1407 Tower Rd. in 1917.

After purchasing the home in 2001, the Winnetka Historical Society moved the structure to Crow Island Woods in 2003. The historical society also conducts school programs and other presentations for local clubs and organizations.