Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: The Slippery Slope of Quality Hill – Part 2
Was the home at Lockport Street and Eastern Avenue part of the Underground Railroad movement?
Michael Lambert, Neighbor
- Plainfield, IL
Posting Activity
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: The Slippery Slope of Quality Hill
The story behind a home at Lockport Street and Eastern Avenue is a long and complicated one. But was it ever part of the Underground Railroad?
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Getting Your Kicks on Plainfield’s Stretch of Route 66
A look at the history of Plainfield's gas stations and the people who owned them.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Herbert Cowell, Plainfield’s Prolific Architect
Joliet architects were behind many of Plainfield's earliest homes and buildings.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Plainfield’s Tie to 1960s Television
The Sonntag family left its mark on Plainfield — and on Hollywood.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Old School Built as a Radio Station
The building that last housed Christ Lutheran Academy originally had been designed for radio broadcasts and later became a rural apartment complex.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Old School Site Tied to Village History
As developers get ready to break ground on a new 340-unit apartment complex, we explore why the building on 127th Street, east of Route 59, is significant.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: The REAL Story about Plainfield's Ku Klux Klan History
Yes, there were huge Klan rallies here in the 1920s, but -- with KKK chapters across the country -- such events were held in small towns all over the Midwest.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Early Travelers Stayed in 'Tourist Cabins,' Rustic Predecessors to Motels
In Plainfield, the place to stay was Spangler's Camping Cottages, one of which still remains today.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Good Eats -- Fried Chicken, Ice Cream -- Lured Travelers on 'Lincolnway'
Drivers get hungry making that cross-country road trip from New York to California, and Plainfield entrepreneurs cashed in.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Windmill Diner Survived Prohibition and Thrived until the '50s
John and Mabel Powell opened their restaurant-saloon-gas station on Lincoln Highway in 1925.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Lincoln Highway Led to Gas Station Boon
As Americans fell in love with the automobile and took to the open road, Plainfield entrepreneurs responded; by 1920, there were 11 gas "dispensaries" in town.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Every Generation-- Including Ours -- Has Put Its Mark on Village Green
The most recent changes, completed in 2011, include a children's splash pad, rain garden, refinished basketball and tennis courts, and a completely new restroom building.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Civil War Soldier's Fraternity Now Mostly Forgotten in Plainfield
The local post of the Grand Army of the Republic bore the name of Capt. John A. Burrell, who died fighting in Georgia.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: 20th Century Village Green a Hub of Activity
After falling out favor during the Electric Park years, the downtown park found new life over and over again during the 20th century.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Village Green's History from One-Time Dirt Tract to Public Park
The land bordered by Des Plaines, Ottawa, Fox River and Chicago streets was donated as a "public commons" by Chester Ingersoll.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Only Hearty, Skilled Pioneers Need Apply
The first band of folks to settle Walkers' Grove had to be made of hearty stuff to endure the hard work and occasionally harsh climate.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Is Walkers' Grove Named for James or Jesse? We'll Never Know
Both men owned large tracts of the section of Plainfield once known as Walkers' Grove, but historical records are long gone.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Original Walkers' Grove Nowhere Near Subdivision, School
If you want to know where the village's first homesteads were built, head to the area near River and Renwick roads.
Plainfield|Neighbor News|
Lambert: Memory of Abolitionist Brothers Lives On
One helped rescue thousands via the Underground Railroad, the other was called the "pioneer" of Plainfield's anti-slavery movement.
