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WINNETKA TALK May 5, 1928 Do You Know-- HAT a simplified form of real estate sales contract which eliminates much of the involved phraseology understandable only to the well known Philadelphia lawyer has just been evolved by the legal forms committee of the Chicago Real Estate board together with officials of the Chicago Title and Trust company. This form is said to be easily compre- hensible to both the purchaser and the seller, and at the same time it con- tains the necessary requirements and substance to express clearly the agree- ment and understanding of the parties and is sufficiently definite and certain in its terms to be enforceable legally. "The legal forms committee of the Chicago Real Estate board," Harry Ww. Hopp, chairman of the committee, said in discussing the contract, "has been working on this new contract for nearly two yea:s. The committee has cut out the 'whereases' and the 'there- fores.'" Mr. Hopp is a resident of Wilmette. That Waukegan's plan to extend its municipal limits west from the pres- ent line near the Green Bay road to the Des Plaines river, thus annexing some of the finest country places in the district has failed. Gurnee, voting to incorporate by a majority of 90 to 4, will hold a village election April 17, and the new village will be charted to cover the disputed territory a mile and a quarter in depth from north to south, from the present Waukegan west township line west to the intersection of Grand and Milwau- kee avenue roads at the Des Plaines river. Wilmette Bids for Population of 50,000 | Wilmette--17,000 inhabitants! That is the Wilmette of this day, year of 1928. But we present a not so hypothet- ical question: What will be the population of Wilmette in two years, five years, ten years,a score of years as those over- crowding Chicago push northward? But that question prompts another: "How many of the 17,000 citizens of Wilmette today KNOW Wilmette, how many know to what extent the village may grow, how many realize that in five years the width and breadth of the village has stretched with the elasticity of a huge rubber band until today to the west, to the north and south there is an area approximating 2200 acres--a few square miles. First Annexation 6 Years Ago Six years ago Wilmette annexed a parcel of land in what was Grosse Point, a village which had existed for years dating back before the memory of this writer started functioning. Two years ago there another annexation and with that action Grosse Point lost identity as a village; it simply was swallowed up by Wilmette. And Wil- mette became what it is today, one of the largest suburbs in the country. Perhaps there are larger ones, but we don't know their names: But to repeat: How many persons in Wilmette know just how large the village has grown? The answer would be "very few." The writer asked one of the officials of the village this question and he an- swered : "I guess three or four of us." That would seem to answer the sec- ond question. The first will be an- development. MOUAT & ReAL ESTATE 7) Boarp OY FIVE MINUTES FROM WILMETTE - GLENCOE - WINNETKA Have you seen the very recent development in Kenil- worth Gardens, at Kenilworth Avenue and the Ridge? With spring in the air and daylight savings already here, it will be well worth your while, any evening, to take the few moments necessary to inspect this Two new houses are ready for occupancy, while six more are now in the course of construction. are still available as low as $70 a foot--just three short blocks from electric and steam transportation. For full particulars call Incorporated WILMETTE--Opposite Village Hall--Wilmette 273 Lots FLAHERTY a APID development is being registered in_the northern section of western Wilmette. The residence pictured is to be built for A. W. Drucker in the Bills Realty, Inc. subdivision, Indian Hill Estates. It is a twelve room resi- dence designed by Ralph Stetzel. Construction is scheduled to start May 15. The house will be located on a three acre site on Mohawk read. swered as the years roll by. When the first process of annexa- tion was consummated five years ago Wilmette leaped the Ridge which had been the village's boundary line. The new territory stretched principally to the north and west. To the north it reached Linden avenue, the southern boundary of the Indian Hill Golf course; west to Locust road at the northern end; south to Isabella street extending west as far as the West- moreland Country club, the curving Reinwald road forming the limits line from the north. Better Government Sought So much for the boundaries of the new annexation. There is an inter- esting story that tells of how Wil- mette happened to expand. Ten years ago Grosse Point was made up of farmers with truck farms. But there was a village government, But evi- dently the government was not func- tioning successfully, for the citizens sought annexation to Kenilworth. The information is imparted that Kenil- worth declined to take in Grosse Point territory. The slow development was the reason the Grosse Pointers sought to be annexed. There were no sew- ers, no street lights, and bad roads. In view of these conditions it is not surprising that Grosse Point sought a change to better itself. The discour- aged officialdom voted to disorganize and then for a couple of years there was no government at all, _ But there were progressive people in Grosse Point, perhaps not many, but enough to make a noise that could be heard. An election was held which resulted in the hottest kind of a con- test, the issue being whether or not Grosse Point would ask Wilmette to "take them in," and the result was favorable for the annexation plan by a narrow margin. That much settled the Pointers made overtures to Wilmette. And Wilmette was found not to be op- posed to the plan. Wilmette voted on this annexation--the first of Grosse Point--six years ago and it went over big, the vote being about 8 to 1 in favor. That explains the first step in ex- pansion. It was three years ago that the fur- ther expansion took place, which gives the Wilmette of today such a vast area. [t came about through the ef- forts of Real Estate men, who previ- ous to the first annexation had antici- pated and had purchased many acres of land from Grosse Point farmers. Among these were A. H. Kraus, Hoyt King, and John H. Shaffer. These Real Estate men got together and drew up a petition calling for the second annexation of Grosse Point territory by Wilmette. There were enough signers and for a second time the Wilmette voters had a chance to decide if they desired expansion. They showed that they did at the polls, but this is too recent to make it necessary to go into detail to tell about it here. Big Change in Map The map, however, shows some big changes sinces that annexation. Wil- mette now on its northern boundary extends west on a line with Avoca road, and juts north probably 500 feet to reach a new north limit at the north branch of the Chicago river, a stream which at this point is little more than fifteen feet wide. The west boundary line follows the river south- ward as far as Lake street. From the river to the east side of the North- western and North Shore electric tracks, Lake street is the southern boundary. There is a short break from the tracks at Wilmette avenue before the west boundary shifts and then the limit is straight south to Cen- tral street. The southern boundary remains at Central street running to old Wilmette at the Ridge. The development of the annexed territory until a year ago was not rapid. But in the past twelve months there has been much activity: In par- ticular the section, or sub-division, called Indian Hill Estates has shown much activity. Other subdivisions closer to the Ridge also have been spurting along. Development Slow at First The slow development was attribut- ed to the lack of improvements. Work was started on sewers in some sec- tions three years ago, but it failed be- cause the contractor who had won the contract had made too low a bid and could not produce. That, it is said, put the work back a year and a half. At the present time another contrac- (Continued on Page 61) SR----