September 18, 1947Wilmette's 75th Anniversary 1872-1947Villageacter of the village thus maintained, Strives tobut every home-owner is thus as-?^V^lsured that his property value willL :: Retain Character asnot be jeopardized by the erectionof a factory next door.^H " Mil/ *Home CommunityAvoid CrowdingWilmette, planned from its earli-Then, too, the village avoids be-est days as a community of homes,ing overcrowded with the resultanthas made every effort through thestrain on all village facilities from::::::years to retain that resident'alschools to sewers. -'.^|lgff ^ Bcharacter.UIt was also, probably, a matterp to the time of the First Worldwarof economics as much as a moral, the task was easy, for thequestion that years ago led the60THland use was not intense, and there ANNIVERSARYSS. Peter and Paul court No. 61, CatholicNorth Shore villages to vote forOrdewas little or no pressure for ther of Foresters, celebrated its 60th anniversary last August 17local option. A saloon, it was found,witherection of apartment buildings nor a dinner and" dance at St. Joseph's school hall. (Photo byalways drove down neighboringHarveyfor the establishment oi factories. J. Steffens).Onproperty desirability.e effective method to keepPlan CommissionOnfrom overcrowding was taken ine hundred members and their1890; Nicholas P. Miller, 1889; Paul1908 with the establishment of theThe villagers went even farther mfamilies were at the meeting toNanzig, 1890; Joseph Braun, 1894;park district. In 1946 the boundariestheir attempt to control the com-do honor to the oldest living mem-and Bernard Bohnen, 1896.of the district were extended west-munity character and development.ber present, Bernard Braun, whoward to include almost the entireAs early as 1919 a 15-man planninghas been affiliated for 57 years.commission, headed by Edward L.Standing, left to right, are Wil-Hoyvillage.t King Foe ofZoning- OrdinanceScheidenhelm, was appointed byliam Pettinger, John G. Schneider,Shortly after the first World war.President Edward Zipf. This report,Peter A. Pettinger, George Pfaff,WilliamCorrupt Politicsthe Illinois legislature granted topublished in 1922, was a far-seeing Haefligter. Seated, left tothe cities and villages the right todocument offering a comprehensiveright, are Mrs. Bernard Braun, Mr.Hoyt King, a resident of Wilmettepass zoning ordinances to keepprogram for civic progress.Braun, the Rev. Albert Roemer,for many years, was a long-timemultiple-family dwellings, industry,Many of the recommendations,the Rev. Herbert Bosen, the Rt.leading Chicago and North ShoreRevand commercial enterprises fromhowever, were never carried out.. Msgr. John A. Neumann, andcivic leader.springing up in the residentialJameTo bring the village plan up to date,s J. Doody.Born in Indiana, and a graduate ofareas.Peter Pettinger, master of cere-the state university's law school, heWilmettand to give the community programe was one of the firstmoniesa new impetus, Village President, presented the notables atentered the law profession in the of-communities in Illinois to adopt aWilliam H. Alexander in 1946 ap-the meeting and short addressesfice of Frank O. Lowd'en, laterzoning ordinance.werpointed a new board of 10 members.e given by Msgr. Neumann,governor of Illinois. For severalKeep Original Principlespastor of St. Joseph's; Mr. Doody,years he was successively secretaryWhilThis planning board was first head-e the ordinance has beened by Richard G. Finn, Jr., andMrerpresentative of the high court;of the Municipal Voters' league, theamended from time to time to meetlater by Lloyd Miller.. Pfaff, state chief ranger;Citizens' association of Chicago, andchanging conditions, the originalFatheIts recommendations are now inr Roemer, St. Mary's parish,the Legislative Voters' league at aprinciples have been retained. Cer-Viroquaprocess of publication., Wis., formerly of Wil-mettetime these organizations were en-tain areas were set aside for busi-; and Father Bosen, spiritualgaged in bitter fights on corruptionness and or light industry. Surround-director of the court.in politics and' on traction interests.ing these sections were belts forNO ANNEXATIONThe court was organized in GrossHe also served as real estatemultiple-family dwellings. On theBig political issue early in 1894Point on July 31, 1887, with 33 char-manager of the Chicago Sanitaryrim of the latter were zonester members of whom none aredistrict and was in later years clerkwhicwas ihe proposal to annex Wilmetteh two-family houses were per-living, although there are five menof the U. S. district court. From 1914mittedto Evans ton. Two referenda were. All the rest has been re-nek! in the winter and early springwho have been in the order forto 1924 he was collector of Newserved for single-family use.of that year. Both times the pro-over 50 years, namely: Mr. Braun,Trier township.Not only is the residential cha eposition was vfiled down..Since the day in 1872 when a handful of residents gathered in therailroad station and voted to incorporate the village of Wil-mette it has grown to be one of the finest suburban communities.We are justly proud of our civic institutions, our parks and facilitiesand the keen civic attitude which makes the village what it is today.We are more proud of having had the opportunity of serving youfor the past ten years and pledge ourselves to the task of growingwith Wilmette and rendering more and greater service to you.1148 WILMETTE AVENUEWILMETTE 987