Alsip

By Patrick E. Kitching and Susan L. Bruesch

The village of Alsip got its name from the area’s first big business, Frank Alsip’s Brickyard. Although Alsip is now known for its tight-knit neighborhoods and large industrial community, it was not always so. Recorded area history goes back to the 1600s, when a Catholic mission stood at 122nd and Loveland Streets, and the first European settlers began farming the area in the 1800s. The historic farmhouse featured on the front cover was homesteaded by DeWitt and Amy Baxter Lane in 1835. Area maps identified this homestead as “Lanes Island” because it was surrounded by marshy swamps. DeWitt’s father, Joseph, opened a smithy along a busy Indian trail that passed by Lanes Island and worked until he died in 1839. The tough-as-nails pioneers featured in Images of America: Alsip drained the swampland, which gave rise to a future of fertile farming, eventually leading to the first Village of Alsip board meeting, held on April 26, 1927.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Oct 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781439647967

Patrick E. Kitching

Without the aid of a historical society, authors Patrick E. Kitching and Susan L. Bruesch tracked down descendants of pioneer families to learn about the village’s early years. Many of the photographs included in this book have not been published nor been seen outside of family photo albums. The authors are extremely grateful for the cooperation and help of residents.

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INTRODUCTION

These days, Alsip is known for many industrial parks and successful businesses. With 20,000 residents, the population increases to over 100,000 during the workweek. This strong local economy gives an advantage over the ups and downs and helps keep the community on an even keel. Generations of Alsipians have called Alsip home.

In the 1600s, this area was visited by explorers, fur traders, and missionaries. In 1832, DeWitt Lane, his wife, Amy Lane, and young son Charles settled on a plot of ground near today’s 117th Street and Lawler Avenue. DeWitt’s parents, Joseph and Hannah Lane, joined them from New York a few years later and homesteaded the high ground that was the Hazelgreen area, originally called Lane’s Island, which was a few miles west of Blue Island. Joseph Lane set up a blacksmith shop near a well-traveled Indian trail and worked it until his death in 1839. In winter, the Lane family trapped muskrats, mink, raccoon, beaver, and an array of other fur-bearing animals along the banks of Stony Creek. The creek is barely visible today but still runs its course through the middle of Alsip and was part of a Potawatomi Indian trail. Other tribes in the area were the Algonquins, the Iroquois, the Illinoi, and the Miami.

The spelling of Hazel Green has been contentious. For 175 years, Hazel Green, as in the cemetery and the little community on the hill, has been spelled as two words. But years ago, the school board changed the school’s name to one word, Hazelgreen, so there would be no confusion that it was named after someone named Hazel.

Where does the name come from? Two brothers of DeWitt Lane died in the 1840s and the 1850s near Hazel Green Township in Grant County, Wisconsin. The area in Alsip could be named in honor of his brothers. Lane family lore says that Chicago travelers first went past the blue island, and in the distance was the hazel green island. The color came from the green swampland ringed by hazel green and other shrubs.

In northern Illinois, hazel green, also called witch hazel, bushes are very common. An article in the October 25, 1947, Forest Preserve District of Cook County’s Nature Bulletin No. 128, says, the stems of the hazel bush are stiff and straight. In pioneer days they were used for making baskets and especially as ramrods for the muzzle-loading rifles and shotguns. They had another use because in those days there was a proverb: ‘spare the rod and spoil the child.’

Joseph Lane was the first Lane laid to rest in 1839 in tiny Hazelgreen cemetery located at 115th Street and Laramie Avenue, which would have been on the Lane Farm. Many of the Lane family decedents are buried there as well. Several of the early settler families are also in this historic cemetery.

The second European settler in the area was thought to be Hebert Rexford. His family was involved in Worth’s first post office and he served as a justice of the peace. Alsip has a street named after him, just a few blocks west of the village hall.

Farming became one of the first sustainable interests in the area. Joseph Peloquin’s family had an onion farm near 115th Street and Pulaski Avenue. He stated that when his father harvested the grasses, the Indians would sit along the fields and watch. Many of the settlers held their farms for generations. The Lane family, the Norman family, the Van Beveren family, the Benck family, the Edward P. Bishop family, the Werkman family, and others were among them. Edward P. Bishop sold his farm to Frank Alsip and his son for $1,250, and so began the Alsip Brick Yard. So many evolved into truck farms, but all succumbed to progress, with the Norman and Van Beveren farms being sold to developers, and the farming heritage came to an end.

In 1848, Stony Creek was widened and lengthened to create what is now known as the feeder, as its water then flowed into the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal. This also aided in draining the very swampy area. Digging the Calumet-Saganashkee (commonly known as Cal-Sag) Channel in 1911, a 22-year-long process, also aided in the draining of the area.

Alsip got its name from the largest area business. In 1885, Frank Alsip and his son Charles established the Alsip Brick Yard. This brickyard was among several that the Alsip family owned. Frank Alsip’s brickyards produced more bricks than any of his competitors in the Chicago area. Frank Alsip also invented most of the machinery in his factories. Alsip bricks were used in the construction of the Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. Multiple buildings, including the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute, and the Field Museum, all contain Alsip bricks. The clay quarry used for his business was at 120th Street and Cicero Avenue. It has since been filled in, and a retail development called Quarry Plaza was erected there.

In the early 1900s, it became obvious that area farms were being bought up by land speculators. Some were bought by the Chicago Cemetery Association. Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, which borders Alsip along 115th Street from Central Avenue to Ridgeland Avenue, was a race track for horses and greyhounds from 1800 to 1805. A famous jockey by the name of Fred Herbert got his start there, eventually winning the 1910 Kentucky Derby. Today, seven cemeteries surround or are incorporated in village boundaries. A referendum in March 1927 created the Village of Alsip. In June 1927, Alsip elected its first mayor, Gustave Termunde, along with its first village trustees. With a